A Meltdown

Harper's pediatrician, Dr. Gaines, said that she is entering a phase where she experiences separation anxiety and "stranger danger." My dear friend, Adam, experienced it firsthand.

A New Year

2012 has been a great year for us. It has been amazing. It hasn't always been easy -- in fact, it has been really challenging. With each challenge I think we have learned more about our abilities to adapt and roll with the punches. I am really proud of us.

Some things we have learned:

- John can help with the Harper in the middle of the night and have no memory of it in the morning. (muahahahah)

-A quiet Harper is cause for concern.

- If you can't find John, he is either under a car or in his workshop/shed.

- Our idea of dirty clothes has changed -- it must have a least 2 different kinds of baby food on it for it to be washed.

-Laundry takes 2 weeks. 1 week to cycle the clothes through the washer, dryer and fold them. Another week to put them away.

- It has been said that women are terrible drivers. I challenge anyone to drive well (and obey the speed limit) with a screaming child in the car.

- I read this somewhere, but it applies to perfectly to us: I never knew how much I loved John until I saw how much he loves Harper.

-Commercials that show dads being helpless and clueless annoy us. John is the most capable and wonderful father.

-Jackson is good with babies. Molly is NOT.

- Fireworks.are.the.worst.ever.

Wishing everyone a blessed and wonderful 2013!

Gal Pals

Since Harper's birth, we have had many friends have babies. One as recent as two days ago (yay Megan and Ben!) Grant and John grew up together in Macon. Grant and Carrie had sweet Vivian about 7 weeks ago. She and Harper are fast friends. Harper just REALLY wants Vivian to play with her. Before we know it, they will be going on spring break together. Yikes.

A Full Heart

I love Christmas for so many reasons. Although some people may disagree, I love how full the church gets around Christmastime. People coming home to be with their families or maybe people who feel the need to go to church and celebrate Jesus' birth; whatever the reason, it warms my heart.

I grew up in Marietta. I was an "East Cobb Snob" from the age of 2. At 18, my parents built a house in West Cobb. When John and I got engaged, we bought a  house in West Cobb. Most of my friends don't live in Marietta anymore. So Christmas means that they will be coming home and I always hope that I have a chance to visit with them. (We took Harper to a Walker Christmas Party and she was so well behaved. I think people wanted to see her more than they wanted to see me. I don't blame them.)

Christmas also means that my whole family gets together. It is often assumed that we all spend a great deal of time together because we all live so close (the furthest sibling being near Lenox.) Although I do spend a lot of time with my siblings and their families, it is not very often that we are all together in one place. I just love it.

Christmas Eve was so exciting. We went to the Children's Nativity Service and Harper loved it. She wanted everyone to know how much she loved it so she squealed as loud as she could. :) After church, we had dinner at Waffle House. We then hurried home, gave Harper a bath and to bed she went.

(L) Harper with Aunt Janice, (top) at Church, (bottom) Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was spent at our house. Harper opened -- chewed on -- her presents. The dogs ate their bones, and John and I exchanged a few gifts. After Harper's morning nap, we packed up and headed to my parents house (all of 5 miles away.) We all decided to have a breakfast buffet instead of a large meal and IT WAS AMAZING! Betsy's breakfast casserole, Dad's cheese grits, Keri's bread pudding, my sausage balls, Mom's biscuits and Kelly's fruit salad. We had a great time exchanging gifts and spending time together. Soon it was Harper's nap time, so we headed home. John and I had a little nap, too.

Christmas Day!

The next day we headed to Macon for the Clark family Christmas. It's great fun to have Harper spend time with Madison because they are just 2 weeks apart. Sweet Baylee is so good with the babies. We spent a few days in Macon, so we had a chance for Harper to spend time with her Great Grandmama and Grandaddy Mason. We also visited the graves of her Grandmama and Grandaddy Clark. If you know anything about John's mom and sister, Meagin, then you know they are bargain hunters. They inspired us to do a little early birthday shopping for Harper. Perhaps even a little early Christmas shopping? Let's see if I can wait that long!

with Great Grandmama and Grandaddy Mason.

I have so many ideas/plans for what we will do with Harper when she is more aware of Christmas. I am in no rush for her to grow up, but I intend on her knowing the true meaning of the season.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I love this time of year. Getting to spend extra time with family and friends is the best gift ever. Add to that looking at all the beautiful Christmas cards and baking up a storm in the kitchen -- perfection. John and I are thinking of ways to incorporate Jesus into our Christmas traditions (a little crazy that we have to do that -- I mean, think about it) aside from Christmas Eve service. I love that Jason, Betsy, Hadley and Hayden bake a birthday cake for Jesus. I also want to create my own advent calendar with 25 Bible verses along with the sweet treat. It is so easy to get caught up in Santa and Rudolph and getting that doorbuster, but I want Harper to know that is not why we celebrate Christmas. That being said, Harper is completely unaware of Christmas this year. She is not even 9 months old. I mean, she plays with wrapping paper as I wrap gifts, she hangs out in the kitchen while I bake until there is no counter space left, and she loves playing with our tree. She has multiple Christmas dresses and had her picture taken with Santa. All of this is for us. She is just along for the ride. I am looking forward to the day when she can take part in all of our traditions and be excited about it.

Harper didn't cry. She was very interested in Santa.

She is also very interested in Christmas trees and ornaments.

A happy baby while Mama bakes!

How much longer?

A Trip to Athens

John had a business trip last week in Pasco, Washington. Harper and I decided to drive to Athens and spend the night at the Gober's house. Carson is 2 years old -- he will be 3 in May. Lauren and I have been friends since Kindergarten. Girls scouts. Camp High Harbor. Panama City. Breckenridge. Lake Burton. So many of my childhood memories involve Lauren. She was one of my bridesmaids. Lauren (and her family) are so special to me.

The months leading up to Harper being born and the months following her birth, I called Lauren all the time. Is this normal? What do I do? What do you recommend? She was such a great resource, but an even better friend. I love that our children will be friends. Oh, and they will also be married. It's perfect.

I had a great time at their house, but I think Harper and Carson had the most fun. Lauren and I found ourselves sitting silently by and watching the two play together. Carson was so sweet and gentle with Harper. And Harper? She was so loud and made so many funny noises -- Carson loved it! (and often mimicked her.)

Let's not forget about Chris! He was so sweet...he offered to watch Harper and Carson so that Lauren and I could go out to dinner. Knowing that Harper was "off" her normal schedule, I wouldn't put him through that. Chris and I did convince Lauren to watch Duck Dynasty. She was not too impressed. 

Middle school? Yes, this picture is definitely from middle school. :)

Carson and Harper meet -- Harper is 3 months old.

during our sleepover -- they had so much fun!

8 months (and 10 days...eek!)

It is hard to believe that 8 months have gone passed since our little girl was born. The first month was the longest one of my life -- and since then, time has passed so quickly.

Harper loves bath time. Bath time listening to the Sound of Music? It doesn't get much better. :)

Headed to the Army/Navy Party

ahhhhh.....

smiling at my daddy....

those eyes.

Harper loves being on her daddy's shoulder.

Harper is close to crawling. She just has such long legs -- it's hard to maneuver them! She claps, although no sound is produced. The other day she whistled -- completely on accident -- and then she spent the next 5-10 minutes trying to make the sound again. It was funny to watch. She is doing very well with a sippy cup (water and very, very little juice) and wants to be independent. Oh dear. It is happening already.

She loves books. She likes when I read them, but she prefers chewing on them and turning the pages on her own. She has successfully found every Christmas tree needle that has fallen on the ground. She practiced unwrapping presents has I was wrapping them.

We are looking forward to visiting Santa later this week. I am sure I will get some great pictures from that!