Don't you love these precious onesies???? They were given to me by a very sweet blogger when I was pregnant.
The sweet people at Faith Baby are going to give one lucky reader the onesie of their choice!!
Just go to www.faithbaby.com and tell me which one you would choose.
If you are pregnant, know someone who is, have a baby, or one of the so many struggling with infertility - I think this would be the perfect thing to put in your HOPE closet (they have other colors)!
I will pick the winner with the random number picker on Friday!!! (I'm also drawing for the shoes on Friday) (COMMENTS CLOSE FRIDAY AT NOON!)
Also - Harper wants to say "Happy Birthday Aunt Laurie"!!!
This is my favorite picture yet of Harper. She looks just like her daddy in it. I haven't used the light panel yet. I may need Scott's help with it so maybe this weekend.
It's the last day in March and I just want to write a few things down before I forget.
Harper - we have moved you up to size 2 diapers. I'm going to need you to quit growing. We had a little talk about this yesterday - Momma needs you to stay small enough to lay on the boppy pillow in my lap forever. Time - please stand still.
In the last couple of days, you have almost laughed a little. Music to our ears. We will try anything (and I do mean anything) to make you smile and now laugh.
You LOVE trying to stand up. We hold you up and your little legs are so strong - I swear you could almost stand by yourself. You get this determined look on your face - it cracks us up.
Momma didn't want to read books or use programs - but you are falling into a nice schedule. Lately you take a 2-4 hour nap every day at the same time and you don't sleep through the night but it's close enough. You just wake up and eat and 30 min later we are both back asleep. You get about 12 hours of sleep and I get 8-9 so we are both happy campers.
You love "Praise Baby" videos most and you smile and kick your feet like you are trying to dance. I want to too.
You are pretty attached to me (hate that). I try to go to Wal-Mart or other errands while you nap but daddy says it's like you know I just got in the car because you will instantly wake up and start screaming.
Dawson and you are getting along fine. He really doesn't pay that much attention to you but he's protective. If you are napping and I'm in the other room when you wake up and start crying - he will come find me with a look that says "help my sister". This morning I tried to take a quick shower while you slept in your bouncy seat and you started crying so Dawson came and sat by your seat and watched you until I got out. It was so sweet. I could see it all from our glass shower and it made my heart smile.
She wasn't too happy with me by the time we got here. Her onesie says "this is my litle black dress". Fitting since her momma likes to wear a lot of black. (It's easy and slimming - what can I say?)
I thought I would share this in case you didn't know about it -Sunnitalked about it a few days ago and I had to try it out. Diapers.com is a website where you can order diapers (and other baby products). They give instant P&G coupons and ship for free (if it's over $49). I used a coupon from Sunni and got a great deal so I thought I would pass it on to you. And today I should have about 6 weeks of diapers dropped on my doorstep. Now if they would only deliver dinner. ha! Go to the site and use the code HARPERSMOM and you will get $10 off your order.
I spent this morning auditioning Easter outfits for Harper. Since we have decided to take her out on Easter Sunday.......I want her to look extra cute. I have about 3 options - this is not the winner but I thought she looked cute. I got this dress and sweater at where else - Wal-Mart. I saw them on a weekly grocery trip and almost bought it twice but finally last week they were both on sale and I caved. Most of Harper's 0-3 month outfits are onesies and she doesn't have much that is dressy so I just couldn't help it. I'm a sucker for a cute cardigan and a spring dress.
I spent last night and most of today just loving on my girl and thanking God for the blessing that she is. I have been SOOO overwhelmed with sadness for all the women out there longing for a child. I hear from so many of you daily and I know EXACTLY how you feel. This time last year I was just at my lowest point. I know how desperate and hopeless you feel. I want to take it from you and give you a precious child. But God knows the plan He has for you. I have been broken over all the sick children. I am sent so many prayer requests daily and it's my privilege to pray for each of them but it's also so hard to see so much pain. I have prayed in the middle of the night for God to save little Stellan. My heart hurts for Angie this week as she is nearing the anniversary of Audrey's birth and death.
I know there are many of you who read this blog and you have a strong faith. You know that we can't understand everything that happens but we know who our Father is and that He loves us and promises to never leave or forsake us. I know some of you are new Christians and you are probably struggling with answers. Some of you don't have a relationship with Jesus and you wonder if God even hears prayers.
What I know is in John 16:33 - God says "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart - I have overcome the world!" He knew your name before you were born. He knew the choices you would make and the plans He had for you. He knew if you would follow Him or reject Him. I don't think we can ever understand His ways - but I don't want to follow a God who I can understand. I want a God who created the earth, who sacrificed HIS SON out of love for us, who loves us more than we could ever fathom, a God who SINGS over us! I trust Him no matter what life may bring.
I love this song right now - Chris Tomlin's "I will rise". I watched a video today where he said that Louie Giglio ( who I love) challenged him to write a song that would encourage those who were facing tough times or possibly death. He wanted him to write a song that could be sung at a funeral. I hope you can listen and have hope. And if you have healthy children - hug them a little tighter today and pray for those who don't.
This picture kind of makes me laugh. I forgot to mention that on Friday, Harper had her last RSV shot of the year. She did pretty good. She weighed 12 lbs and 11 oz. BIG GIRL! I heard through the grapevine today that our (cute and single) pediatrician is moving to Africa soon to be a medical missionary. Yeay for Jesus , sad for us. So I guess we'll be looking for a new one before too long. Harper enjoyed having her grandparents here. She gets spoiled when there are lots of hands wanting to hold her! You were all asking about the light panel. Here it is - Scott finished it today (ignore our mess of a garage). Scott got the instructions here. Once we get some backdrops and a set up - I'll post pictures of before and after to show you how it makes a difference. A blogger sent me a great link that talks about how to make neat backdrops from fabric. Here is the link. I may be experimenting this week- stay tuned!
A lot of you have asked when we will start getting Harper out. We are going to try and make Easter Sunday our first family trip back to church (I can't wait) and then after that - we will probably start taking her out. She'll be 3 months at that point. We'll still be pretty cautious but I feel safer once sick season is past and with her RSV shot. I can't wait to be back around all of our friends!!!!
The title of my blog today reminds me that Scott and I have been excited that our FAVORITE David Crowder is working on a new album (called "Church Music") and we can't wait to get our hands on it. Maybe we can take Harper to her first David Crowder concert before too long! I just realized he is from Texarkana. He would say Texas but I'll say Arkansas. (If you like DCB - what is your favorite song????)
Welcome from snowy Arkansas! That's right, it's days away from April and it is snowing hard. In the words of Randy Jackson - "WHAT?????". ha!
Scott's parents have been here since Thursday so we have spent the last several days mostly watching Harper. :-) They have helped us with several projects around the house. So here are some pictures we have taken of little miss the last few days.
I love the little zebra softy Harper is holding here - it matches her room
Little jungle girl - she was too busy looking at her feet to look at us
She's looking off into the distance - trying to be an aloof model :-)
Harper has this one little tuft of hair on the back of her head so I stuck a little flower barrette in it. So cute! Her closet (behind us) is like my own personal Disneyworld. Here is our own personal sweat shop. ha! Scott has his parents helping him to make a light panel that is going to help us take even better pictures of our girl. We are turning our house into a photography studio. :-)
Feel free to continue to leave your comment to win the shoes (aren't they the cutest things????) if you haven't already! I'll announce the winner on Friday! (PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS ON YESTERDAYS POST OR THEY WON'T COUNT!) I have some more fun give aways coming up in another week so stay tuned!
Prayer Requests: http://beauandbrittanydaniel.blogspot.com/ Brittany is from AL but her water broke at 24 weeks in D.C. on a work trip. She will have to stay at the hospital in D.C. until she delivers and the baby is okay to go home (could be months). They have another child at home as well. http://cottoncandytutus.com/category_34/ANTHONY.htm Little Anthony has leukemia. The nice people at cotton candy tutus (CUTE STUFF MOMS!) are raising money for his treatments. Go hear to read about how you can help (and get a cute outfit in the process!)
Scott had a pretty good birthday (I hope). I picked up Outback to go for us to have for dinner since going out to eat isn't a great option right now. Harper gave him a new Baby Einstein video since Saturday when I was having brunch with my friends he sent me a text that said "Stop by Wal-Mart and buy EVERY baby Einstein video they have" ha ha ha! We also got him a Dairy Queen Blizzard cake!! Reese's peanut butter cup to be exact. But we are saving it because his parents are coming today to spend a few days so we wanted to share it with them. I'll let you know how it is. ha! This sweet girl who lives in my area had made Harper these CUTE flower headbands before I had her and she just got set up to sell in several stores in Arkansas and wanted pictures of a baby wearing them that she could frame and put in the stores. So I did a few shots this morning for her. I don't know if she'll use any - but I sure think Harper looks cute.
I especially am in love with this. Don't you want to squeeze her cheeks??? I do and it's just about all I do.
Now - just a few important things:
American Idol - my top 3/4 are constantly changing - the great thing about this season is normally I have one favorite but this year there are a lot who are good and every week they change the game for me: Kris, Matt (a new front runner for me), Danny, and I have to say it - I like Adam. Hated him last week but the boy has talent.
DWTS: I love Melissa, Shawn Johnson (she is the cutest little thing ever), Julianna Hoff and her boyfriend (they are such a pretty couple) and Ty Murray (he just seems really nice and a little country - two qualities I like in a guy!)
Also - one of my dearest life long friends, Jamie, is in the hospital having her 3rd baby today and I'm so excited to see him and praying for a healthy delivery. I'm jealous because my parents are going to be in Little Rock today so they get to see her and him and then they are going to see Chris Tomlin in concert. No fair. ;-) I love you Jamie - can't wait to meet Crosby!!!!
AND: If you look on the prayer blog - we now have 33 praises!!!!! In 4 months - we have 33 girls who have become pregnant or had adoptions go through. There are some MIRACLE praises in those names too! If you are still on the list waiting.............don't give up hope!!!!!
(UMMMMMMMMM............MAKE THAT THIRTY-FIVE GIRLS!!!!!!! 35! 35!35!)
Today is Scott's birthday!!! Dawson. Harper, and I love you very much!
I gave Scott his gift yesterday because I can't keep surprises. Every day he flips the channels and sighs and says "Man I wish I had the NFL channel." That was easy. Now every day can be like a fall weekend to him! Since it's Scott's birthday - I thought I would share you with you the first moment he FINALLY got to hold his daughter after 12 days! Ignore our babbling ................. It's always great when you hold your child for the first time........but after waiting almost 2 weeks.......it's unbelievable. I stayed up late last night looking at video we took in the hospital. When she opened her eyes at 10 days and we finally really SAW our daughter - it was something I'll never forget. I cried all over again at the sweetest gift we've been given. (I think I fixed the video so it's not private anymore - but let me know if you still can't see it)
I can't believe how many places you are all from. I'm especially blown away by all the people in other countries..........reading a little girl from Arkansas' blog. ha! That was so fun to read about where you live! You really did make me want to come visit you! Don't start listing off the best food where you live or I'll be gassing up the car!
So - I thought I'd share a few things I've done this week besides change diapers and singing nursery rhymes! After all - I'm not just a mom - I'm a Domestic Engineer!
We have this big wall in our dining room and so a few years ago I framed some botanical prints and hung them in a grid. I loved how it turned out - I was inspired by Ballard Designs.
But the prints are near a large window and have faded in color and lost some effect
So I got a new set of prints - they are bigger and brighter and I like them a lot!
Oh and by the way - at Ballard - a framed set of prints like this would be $300-$600.
I got these prints on e-bay for $15 (search for set of botanical prints), the mats came from Hobby Lobby half price (approx $12), frames were at Wal-Mart around $3 each. So I spent around $50-$60. Not bad.
On to meal time........we eat a lot of chicken. I am constantly looking for new ways to fix chicken. One of my favorite things to do is to go to www.allrecipes.com and go to the Ingredients tab and put in what I have on hand and search those recipes. Like last night - I knew I had some artichokes and some Parmesan cheese. I put those items in and I came up with a recipe and it was really good. So I put it on my recipe blog - if you like artichokes (and I really do) - you should try it!
Today instead of a picture of Harper - I thought I would share a little video. (yes I have a southern accent but I'm also talking in my "baby talk" voice so I sound a little crazy! ha!)
Also - MckMama wrote a great post today about a subject I've been struggling with lately - I've had a lot of people ask me about this - about God's sovereignty and our prayers. I couldn't agree with her post more.
It's a rainy, gloomy Monday here. Boo! Yesterday was warm and sunny but a little windy so we went on a family walk! Is Harper styling in her little hat or what? We have discovered what all parents have found out before us. The greatest invention in all the world is .......Baby Enstien Videos. When Harper is screaming her head off - she will instantly calm down and coo if we turn one on. Of course I'm more partial to the Praise Baby videos so we have those also. They play Christian music instead of the classics. Here is Harper watching one yesterday. She's not into a pacifier - but she kind of likes having a little "softie" to hold and suck on. I'm okay with that.
Last night was a big night for us - we moved Harper's sleeping arrangements. She has been sleeping in her bouncy seat at night because that is the only place she would sleep. She refused to lay flat. But I decided last night she HAD to move to her pack and play because she is practically hanging off the bouncy seat (already). I was very afraid. But she did GREAT! I didn't sleep at all because I kept checking her (the pack & play is right next to my side of the bed). She was all stretched out - I think she probably felt great. She slept really good! Yeay - progress! When my parents came this weekend, they brought a gift from a lady in my hometown. She made me this diaper bag and this precious pink and brown razorback quilt! How cute is that for a sweet girly hog fan???? Thanks Mrs. Sharon!!!! Do ya'll know about Matilda Jane? I've been a big fan - the clothes are cute and funky and different and girly! I nearly fell over when I got a package from the sweet lady behind the company who wrote me the sweetest note and sent both Harper and I some clothes from her line. You MUST go check them out! It makes me want to be a little girl again!
So it's spring break here which means absolutely nothing to my life but it always is a symbol that summer is around the corner. I know we are all having crazy weather. Some of you have snow - we are having thunderstorms (yuck). I also know that people who read this blog are from all over so I'm wondering today .........WHERE ARE YOU FROM and WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE???? Aren't you curious about life in different states/countries? I am. (Just reading the first 100 comments and you make your homes sound so great - can I come visit all of you????? Especially if you are in Seattle, England, and AUSTRALIA!!!!)(any readers in hawaii??? hee!)
Keep praying for Stellan and all the others on my links to the left. Love you!
IMPORTANT: I'm sure you all read Mckmama - but if you don't - please go here and pray for her baby Stellan. He was a miracle baby but he is now having very serious health issues. They need our prayers.
I haven't written in the last few days because I've been dealing with my first big challenge as a mommy - "Momma doesn't get sick days". I have been pretty sick all day Friday and Saturday. I think more than anything it is just exhaustion because Harper didn't sleep much the few nights before and I just hadn't had any rest. I don't get sick very often but it is especially hard to be sick and have to take care of a baby. My parents were here on Friday so that helped a lot. My dad went with me to help me clean out my office. They had a cake for me and gave me some sweet parting gifts. My work was so supportive about me leaving - it meant so much to me. We enjoyed having Nonny and Granddaddy here.
I felt better Saturday morning and my friend Hillary was in town so Laurie and I met her for brunch at Mimi's. YUM! I was so excited all week because my favorite muffin was in season - chocolate banana! It is the BEST! The company was even better - I love my friends. Those two girls make me laugh so hard. This is how I spent the rest of the day on Saturday. Harper doesn't nap during the day most of the time but I think she knew mommy was tired and needed some rest. She and I sat on the couch and she fell asleep in my lap so we laid there for 4 hours and slept together. I think we both needed that! (She is OUT in this picture. ha!) Here is my girl this morning - her onesie says "Not spoiled, BLESSED!". So true! Scott went to church and I am home watching some local churches on TV. I'm missing singing in the choir this morning. I look forward to being able to worship again soon! (although I worship alone by myself all the time!) Hope you are having a good weekend. It's spring break here this week and it seems like everyone is on a fabulous trip. Vacations are one of the best things EVER! Sometimes planning a trip and the anticipation are just as great as the trip itself.
Also - I love how small blogging makes the world. You remember how I told you that I discovered that the dr who delivered Harper was my long lost friend from 4th grade? Well I saw the comments from another blogger this week and she and her sister went to church with us when we lived in that same town. I had to tell her what a small world it was and that I knew her! And then the next day - she delivered a little boy and he has pneumonia and is in the NICU. Luckily- he is doing better than Harper did at first - but he could still use our prayers. Go look at Tenille's blog and pray for little Will.
Also - this young mother lost her husband and the father of her two young boys yesterday to a brain tumor. Please pray for peace and comfort.
I get asked this question at least 25 times a day from all of you.......
"When are you going back to work or are you going to stay home?"
And I couldn't answer that for you.
Until today.
I went and met with my boss this afternoon and let him know that I had decided to take a better job. (and I had an awesome job to start with)!
The pay is a WHOLE, WHOLE lot less. There will be no raises or bonuses. No company car. No annual reviews. The hours are a LOT longer. I have to work nights and weekends. I don't get vacation time or sick days. I can't call in for "mental health" days. I have to work all major (and minor) holidays.
But my new boss? He is SUPER CUTE! And the person reporting to me - PRECIOUS!
Meet my new co-worker.
The little person reporting to me and I plan to have lots of "working lunches", "performance reviews", "coachings" and "team building exercises". I can't fire her so we are in this for the long haul. As of tomorrow morning, after I clean my office out and turn in my keys, company car, and credit card - I will be starting the job I have dreamed of since I was a girl.
Not spoiled, Blessed!
Mommy's answered prayers
Also -
