Show Us Where You Live Friday

Welcome to Show Us Where You Live Friday

KITCHEN EDITION

My kitchen is my favorite room in our house. Maybe it's because I love food so much. ha!
This is the room that sold me on our house when we were looking. This is the view looking in from the family room.

And this is looking in from the eating area - I love my cabinets. I think if we ever move - I will want cabinets just like this again.

This is our eating area/breakfast room (why is it called a breakfast room anyway?) We rarely eat here - only when we have company. We usually sit on the couch in front of the TV to eat (classy I know).
One of my favorite things - the apothecary jars with fruit. I got each of these jars in different places and I just love them. At Christmas I like to put Christmas balls in them. I should switch them out for other holidays but I don't................maybe I'll start.
I found this lamp at a local store (OOPS) - it was like $20 or $30. I saw it in another local gift shop later for over $100. I love it. I also love the name plate that Kaye made us.
I fell in love with these canisters when we were registering for our wedding and got them as a gift - I still love them.
What is a Southern kitchen without a Southern Living Cookbook on display??? I have so many cookbooks it is ridiculous but I adore them. I'm not a big reader but I could sit and read cookbooks for hours. And I almost put the animal crackers away but this is a daily fight. I don't like for things that aren't "decorative" to sit out on our cabinets but pretty much daily I put these in the pantry and daily Scott brings them back out so I have finally given up. He grabs a handful every time he gets home from work (and pretty much everyone who comes to our house seems to want to eat some - thus the huge jar!)
I love this little bakers rack. I filled it up with pictures of friends and family and a lot of fleur de lis. No I was not a Kappa. I just love fleur de lis. This reminds that I NEED to print out pictures of Harper and start framing them. Shame on me for not doing that sooner. But pretty much all of our framed pictures are at least 5 years old.

I thought it would be fun to share our dishes. When we got married - I didn't register for China. I knew I would rarely use it and I thought it would be more fun to have two full sets of dishes to use instead. So far I have not regretted it. We also got Razorback dishes (of course) and Christmas Spode dishes.

So that's our kitchen and now I'm chomping at the bit to see YOURS!!!

So here are the rules - please link to your "post" and not just your blog when you add your name below. And PLEASE do not add your blog if you did not do a kitchen post. I will have to delete any links that do not relate to this tour. I can't wait to see your rooms! And remember - it's not about how "clean" your kitchen is or how " great it is decorated" - it's about sharing a little piece of "YOU!" (and if you have been following the Compassion bloggers this week - I think you can be grateful just to have a solid roof over your head and a bed to sleep in at night. I was crying tonight just looking at their pictures and thinking of how much I have and how little they have. )

OH AND NEXT FRIDAY: LIVING ROOMS (so you have a week to clean and take pics!)

1. Kristen 2. We are THAT family 3. Jessica McCash- A Walk In My Shoes 4. Malinda - A Gift Worth the Wait 5. Whitney 6. Robin 7. Anna Williams 8. There's No Place Like Home 9. Lynn 10. Courtney from TN 11. Sara @ Think Pink 12. Morgan Klein 13. Genesis 14. Lynette 15. Kristi 16. Beth Ann 17. Christie 18. Handsome Little Men 19. Love Leslee 20. Sarah Robbins 21. Cheri Quite Contrary 22. Meredith 23. Sara 24. Melanie 25. Aishlea 26. Jennie 27. LuAnn 28. Tina 29. Patty W. 30. House of Jones 31. Bethany 32. Kelly 33. Molly 34. Bless Our Nest 35. christina 36. Susan G 37. The Lucky Mrs T 38. Topanga 39. Stefanie 40. April Greener 41. Larssons 42. the Stegent fam 43. Allyson 44. Sharae 45. Shelley@Hales Household 46. Angie 47. teresa-bug 48. Candace 49. Cindy 50. Molly (Please disregard first post I put up) 51. Amanda 52. Snarky Mom- Postcards from Insanity 53. Kristy (My Computer) 54. The Underwood's 55. Tori 56. KKRowan 57. Emily 58. Cruson Crew 59. Crystal from TX 60. Beverly Wooley 61. Kelley 62. Amanda Watts 63. Tara 64. Liana 65. Chas' Whole New Can of Beans 66. LillySue 67. Rachel 68. Brittany 69. Emily @ The Pilot's WIfe 70. Jennifer 71. HibnerFamily.com HOME Tour 72. Yocumotion 73. And they lived happily ever after.. 74. Jenny @ jennygarland.com 75. Jen V 76. Simplyhappymama 77. Tiffany 78. Laurie 79. Kassie's World 80. Ashley 81. Whitney 82. Michelle 83. Dina 84. Marva 85. Amber 86. Jillian 87. Jess 88. poop on jelly 89. Christa 90. Lisa 91. Jill 92. Maridith 93. tristan 94. Rachel-McMommy Diaries 95. Leanna 96. Heather 97. Erin 98. Jennifer Mastalski 99. Joanne 100. Sarah 101. Shelby 102. Twice As Nice 103. Lord, I'm Amazed 104. Anna @ Baseballs & Bows 105. Katie 106. Jen at "What a Wonderful World" 107. Life is Glam and Fab 108. Robyn (Three under Three) 109. Kelly H. 110. Happily Ever Afters of the Lancasters 111. Laura 112. Kaye 113. Keely 114. Laura

115. Sarah 116. Sarah (Crazy Van Nus Fam) 117. Jane's Junction 118. Natalie @ Keeping Up With The Joneses 119. Gullett Circus 120. Myra 121. Angie 122. Eve-Farris Family 3 123. KIMBERLY 124. Four under Five... 125. Sally 126. Christy 127. Oh Pickles 128. Erin 129. Jen-blessedmomto7 130. Melissa Stafford 131. MelanieElissa 132. Life is Glam and Fab :) (So sorry! I linked to exact post this time!) 133. Tessa @ Jesus-Filled Hope 134. Mandy 135. Shaila 136. Ashley 137. Amy R 138. Lee Ann 139. Rachel @ The Simple Life of the Boreings 140. Christa C. 141. Kandice 142. Shannon Best 143. Tara G. 144. Fiffer 145. Newlyweds Next Door 146. Overachieving Mom 147. Lamberts Lately... 148. Laura 149. Pink and Green Acres 150. Courtney 151. Melanie M 152. Erin Howell 153. Ashlee 154. Alissa 155. Jen S. 156. Andrea 157. Lindsay 158. Mizjuney 159. Helen Joy George 160. Megs 161. Stephanie 162. Sonya 163. Kimmie @ Full Circle 164. Then came Maria 165. Jennifer 166. Sophie Westover 167. Erin 168. Shaylynn 169. The Robins Nest 170. Weibels Wobble 171. Nancy 172. Jenni B (Barnes Family from Tulsa( 173. Angela (Isabel's Mommy) 174. Annie 175. Louisiana Livin' 176. Dianne Hogue 177. Heather Bug 178. Maryellen 179. jenny w. 180. Chasing Butterflies 181. Lauren Kelly 182. A fellow G.R.I.T.S, Reid 183. Michelle V. 184. Swell Maison 185. Kristin @ Blue Skies From Now On 186. Kelley 187. Jessi 188. Dee 189. Carri 190. Kate @ Flow of Flotrude 191. Harrison Days 192. Sandy 193. Amanda 194. Mary Anne 195. Valerie 196. Krista Lord 197. Keli 198. Jennifer 199. -stephanie- 200. Jesse Mitchell 201. Brittany 202. Ashleigh 203. nani 204. Jen in Texas 205. Lorisa 206. Kelly 207. Rachel a.k.a. Miracle Mama 208. Ashley @ Life Beyond the Pink 209. Heather - UPDATED - ignore #71!! 210. Susans' Messy Kitchen 211. Kristen@More Than the Mulberries 212. Elizabeth G, 213. Katy 214. Michelle 215. Nancy P 216. Tiffany 217. Sonya 218. Journey of Hope - Tonya B. 219. Shari 220. Becky 221. mommy blogs me 222. Hickstionary 223. Tammy 224. Blessed 2 225. Jessica D 226. Kimberly B 227. Elizabeth 228. suziehomemaker v2.0

229. Joy @ www.joyslife.com 230. Jennifer 231. misty 232. Emily (Timeless Paper) 233. Garson 234. Angie (Angelica Grace Designs) 235. Riley 236. Amber Shirk 237. Connie Turned 50 238. Fran - Twin Tornadoes Mommy 239. Michelle 240. Valerie 241. Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality 242. Ali @ Mental Ramblings 243. Leigh Ann 244. Amy-CarolinaGirl 245. Molly (I updated AGAIN) 246. Elizabeth-Farmer Females 247. Frugal Jen 248. edie @ lifeingrace 249. Cari C. 250. Amanda 251. Joanna Parrish 252. Jodi the Girl 253. Heather (Little Blessings) 254. Michelle 255. Danielle @ Living Out Loud 256. Sarah 257. Chasity 258. 3boysmom 259. Meagan White 260. Adriana @Letthefazbegin 261. Amy (Keeping Up With The Roses....) 262. janelle 263. Susan at Whoopsie Daisy Diaries 264. Jessi 265. Kimbrough 266. Diane 267. Beth 268. Nikki@ Back to the Red Dirt Roads 269. Tina @ Blessings 270. McKeever 271. Jeri G (updated) 272. The Pryor Family 273. Cate 274. Audrey 275. Sherry 276. Christy from Omaha,TX 277. Sarah Denley 278. Caroline 279. Kelly 280. Elaine's Semihomemade Life 281. Paige Thomas 282. Martha @ So Lovely Creations 283. Ashley 284. Katie Cole 285. Stacy 286. April 287. Scrambled Eggs 288. Nicole 289. Beverly 290. Ashlee 291. Shannon 292. Cara Dean 293. Brittany 294. Andrea H. 295. Melissa 296. The Stain Fam 297. Stephanie O. 298. On the Eastern Journey - China 299. aLena {Live, Laugh, Love} 300. Lori @ The Davidson Den 301. Jenny Les 302. Jackson Family 303. Sarah 304. Danielle @ Welcome To My Whole World 305. Kristin C 306. Amy 307. Amanda Ledford 308. Priscilla 309. Heidi Harris 310. Carrie 311. Whitney Wilkins 312. Maxcey 313. Chris Arnold 314. Chelsa Knepp 315. Gabi@TickledPinkTalk 316. Jessica 317. Shannon Smith 318. dana mitchell 319. Gina 320. Lisa 321. Jessica Carson 322. Jessica 323. Crystal Nutt 324. Fox Family 325. a-n-n-a-l-e-e 326. House of Jones 327. Beth aka Rambling Gal 328. Brooke 329. Meg's Musings 330. April 331. Kimberly 332. Sprinkles 333. ClAiRe'S cHrOnIcLeS 334. Ann-Margaret's Visions 335. Brittany 336. Cyndi Johnson 337. The Ebright Family 338. Stefanie 339. Taylor 340. Tiaras & Tantrums 341. Journey To Josie 342. Casey

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While We Were Away

So taking a break is harder than I thought it would be because I always have a lot to say....................

So - what have we been up to for the last week besides sitting in our bumbo seat, not sleeping, and trying not to catch the Swine Flu?
Well, last weekend, Harper's Aunt Carrie and Uncle Chris came from Dallas to visit Harper. This was her first time to meet them. They came when she first got to the hospital but she was in a coma then. We enjoyed having them visit so much (this is my brother and SIL). They are Harper's only aunt and uncle so we hope she will be close to them.

My parents also came on Friday night and we had a family dinner and then they had to go home early Saturday and we mostly sat around at home but we did venture out to the local outdoor mall and ate lunch and pushed Harper in her stroller until she went to sleep. She did pretty good!
Because her daddy grew up on a farm in small town Arkansas and Mommy grew up in even a smaller town in Arkansas - Harper had to get down to her roots and wear this John Deere outfit. But just so everyone would recognize she is more "Chic Girl" then "Cowgirl" - she wore a big bow with it. :-) (Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with our country roots - we are PROUD of them!)
On Wednesday, Laurie and her girls came over to visit and eat lunch. Can I just say that times have changed a lot from the days Laurie and I led a care free life of two single girls in an apartment. Having 3 babies under 3 makes for a busy time. I loved having them over and I KNEW that watching those big girls would wear Harper out and it did - she fell asleep in her swing before they left and slept for 3 hours! I would love for them to come over EVERY day! ha!
Today we had play group at this little cutie Neely's house. Her mom, Amanda, made us the BEST lunch. I could have stayed and ate the leftovers all day but at some point I HAVE to quit wearing maternity jeans. ha!
There were 9 of us moms and 11 kids under 4. Good times. And every mom just happens to have a blog. Harper once again passed out in the middle of it. Watching all of those children just wears her out. She woke up but fell asleep in the car again on the way home and I'm hoping she continues to nap for a little while. Amanda has a beautiful home - she has made all these great drapes and curtains by herself. I REALLY need to learn to sew.

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I love to try and find the silver lining in things and that is why I love this post by Angie so much. She is in India right now and it would be easy to look around where she is and just throw up your hands in despair but I love how she found the hope in the midst of so much darkness. Read it!

And while you are at it - pray for Aiden, a little boy who fell and is having severe brain swelling and is in a coma. Also pray for Noah, a precious 5 month old who was shaken by his daycare 10 days ago and is in the hospital waiting to see what kind of brain damage he has - please pray for NONE! My heart is with these families right now. Also pray for Xavian and Elizabeth.

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OKAY - tomorrow I'm going to start our Friday Home Tours. Your house can be a shack or a mansion - no apologies, no explanations - just show us where you live. In fact that's what we will call it ..... "SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY".
So sometime tomorrow (or this weekend) - give us a tour of your kitchen and then come back here and add your link. Then we can spend the weekend touring kitchens - it will be fun!

Also - can I just add - I'm guessing you know by now how much I love Sonic. Well - about every time I go they give me a ticket that if I call and take a survey I will get a free route 44 drink. I've been saving them all up but I'm about to make a bunch of calls and have a week's worth of FREE DRINKS! It's the small things in life that make me happy!

It's good to be back!

Because I ask you to pray a lot

This week is national infertility awareness week.

I've been thinking about so many of you lately because mother's day is approaching and that can be the hardest day of the year when it represents something you so desperately want and yet can't seem to get. Last year I was dreading Mother's day with every fiber of my being. I couldn't face that day once again empty handed. And then God did a miracle.
And then He did another one and healed my baby.
And this Mother's day I will get to dedicate that child to Him and I won't take the day lightly.

And I want you to know I will be praying SO HARD that each of you get that same moment of joy on Mother's day soon.

I'm writing this because I have been praying over names on the prayer blog and when I ask you to pray - it's SO important to me that you know when prayers are answered.

In less than 6 months - we have had 43 praises!!!! FORTY-THREE! And each one is special but some are nothing short of a MIRACLE!

UM - COULD WE MAKE THAT FORTY-FIVE PRAISES!!!!!!!!!!!





I posted this on my blog a long time ago but I have a feeling there are a lot of you out there that need to hear this song because it represents how you feel. I know it did for me.

If you are waiting and dreading Mother's day - please don't give up hope. The God that gave Sarah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Rebekah and Hannah (yes - there were a lot of infertile women in the Bible) babies - can do the same for you! (and someone mentioned to not forget adoption - I think adoption is the most wonderful thing in the world and I keep reading amazing story after story of adoptions and I know it is such a blessing. That may be God's reward for many of you!)(Some of those 45 praises are of adoption match ups - not just pregnancies - both are GIFTS!!!)

And P.S. Single Girls - I haven't forgotten you - I'm praying for you so much also and I have a couple of books I'm going to give away soon especially for you!!!! (And I am just now catching up on adding to that list on the prayer blog - we are wanting praises on that list too girls!!! I know that the wait for a husband is EXCRUCIATING and just as painful as waiting on a child. And Mother's Day is equally hard on single girls. I'm praying!)

Updates

NOPE

I'm not back from my blog break just yet.

But since I'm always giving you things to pray for - I thought I should follow up on two important updates

Do you remember the Bevins family? They had lost two children and were in the process of adopting a daugther and had brought her home from the hospital when the mother changed her mind? I was so heartbroken over them.
Well - guess who are now the proud parents of a little boy named Cash??
When God closes one door, he opens another.

And little Kayleigh? She has been in the NICU for 10 months and recently after a few surgeries - she is (they believe) brain dead. They posted some beautiful pictures of her yesterday and she looks so much like Harper when she sleeps to me. It is unspeakable the pain they must be in.
Please go read here about them and how might could help. Imagine if that was your family and then consider for a minute how blessed you are?
You can also go on www.etsy.com and search for "Kayleigh" and there are sellers who will donate their profits to Kayleigh if you buy something from them (win-win)!
It really IS so much better to give than to receive.

Oh yeah - and Stellan went home today!!!!!

Oh and here is Harper with her Aunt Carrie and Uncle Chris this past weekend. I didn't want to make a quick post without at least one picture of my sweetie pie.

Bye for a few more days!

Gimme a Break

I wanted to let you know that I'm going to take a little Blogging Hiatus. I'll say for a week - but I might come back early.

Next to my family and Jesus (and Sonic cokes and reality TV) - there is nothing I love more than blogging. I love the community, the support, the laughs, the friendship and the prayers SO much!!!!

But lately I have felt so overwhelmed with being a new mom and everything else - I think I just need a small break. I have also had a few things happen lately that have almost made me quit blogging for good. But I blog to
a. record memories of my family
b. to share my faith
c. it's so much fun
so there is no stopping me until the internet pulls the plug.

You might want to wait a week to e-mail me also because I'm going to try and break from that as well.

Last year about this time I took a week long break. The result of that was Harper! So who knows what good might happen this time!!! (not another baby hopefully. Not yet!)

But in a week when I'm back I'll have lots to report from family visits, play group, lunch with friends, recipes, Harper outfits, fashion reports and more.

And I had an idea.........when I was pregnant - I did a "Nursery Tour" and we did a linky thing where you could post your nurseries and we could all peek. (Don't bother looking for this post - the links have disappeared????) Anyway - what if each Friday - I did a linky thing and we could tour each other's homes room by room??? Like all kitchens one week and then living rooms and so on! It would be a fun way to see other blogs and get ideas!!! What do you think??? Any other ideas???? It won't be Boomama's Christmas Tour of Homes - but it could be interesting! So maybe we'll start next Friday!

In the meantime - pray for all the single girls, girls waiting for a child, all the special needs on my links list, the Compassion trip to India (they are leaving tomorrow - Angie Smith is one of the ones going) and just pray for your own families. I'll miss you and I'll see you in a week!!!

I adore being a girl

How fun are these shirts???? Jill at www.twinklingtees.com sent these to us! I love them!!! (Do you know how hard it is to take a self picture of yourself and a 3 month old???) Oh and I went to bed with my hair wet so when I woke up I had curly hair. I curled it a little extra - what do you think? Just wanted to show I could change things a little. ha!

Little sweet thing

Ya'll know Harper has a ton of bows and head bands - I thought I would show you her bow holders. The one on the left was sent to her by www.lavishbliss.com, the one in the middle was made my dear friend Jamie, and the one on the right was made by www.carmenscreations.net


Tomorrow - I am going to give away a pair of vintage style baby shoes like these - go here to see how you can win. You have until 5 p.m. tomorrow!!!

Don't forget you can also win an awesome unique toy on the same place - that ends tomorrow at noon!

I'm so excited to have all my family here tomorrow - my parents, brother, and sister-in-law! I'm hoping for good naps today because I have a lot of cooking/cleaning to do!!! I'll have recipes to share this weekend. Oh and I plan on trying several of your low fat recipes - I went the easiest route with angel food cake and strawberries yesterday and tomorrow I'm making low fat banana pudding!

P.S. Laurie just called to tell me she had had one of the worst mornings of being a mother yet. I won't give it away but she was just here so I could take pictures of someone who may or may not have cut her hair all off. I'm hoping she will post about it today so you will have to check her blog out later. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. (Since it's not my child - I mostly laughed until I cried!) Bless her sweet heart I love her so much. She told Laurie on the way to my house "Kelly is going to be so sad". ha!

Sitting around

I love this little dress that matches her bedding

And could you just die over thses shoes I got from a blogger friend Laura???

I got Harper a bumbo seat today and we had to try it out. Dawson did not know what to think about it. This picture makes me laugh. This was the first time Dawson really took an interest in his sister.

I think someone likes sitting up!!!

Look who took her first trip to TARGET today!!!!! She fell asleep on the way there so mommy got to look around for almost an hour! It was heavenly!!!! It wasn't busy and it was quiet - it was like my own personal mother's day out. ha! Ya'll know I love wal-mart but OH MY - I heart Target!

My mom sent me this video today. First I thought - "this is Hootie????" and then Hootie made me cry like a baby. All of you with babies and toddlers need to watch this..............

3 + 1

I have 3 prayer requests this morning for you and 1 give away

• Please pray for Chad and Nikki who went for their 12 week appointment this week and found out their baby might have a chromosomal defect. They are meeting with a perinatologist on Monday. Pray that the baby will be born healthy and whole. You can visit their site here - http://chadandnikki.blogspot.com/

• http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/
  

This baby was born 10 months ago and 3 months premature and weighed 1 lb. She has been in the NICU ever since. She recently had surgery and now she is not waking up and the doctors think she may possibly be brain dead. Can you imagine the pain and anguish her family is feeling today? PLEASE pray for little Kayleigh and her parents.

• I will never forget walking in to the NICU at St Francis for the first time when my parents and I arrived in Tulsa and the sweetest couple were there to greet me. It helped what was SUCH a hard time for me. Their little boy, Gavin, is having heart surgery in CA today - please lift him up. http://gavinparker.blogspot.com/
  

And then if you want to read about a fun TOY website and a cool toy giveaway - to check out here and sign up to win!



I'll have pictures of Harper up later today (don't worry GRANDPARENTS) - we are off to get ready and run some errands on this beautiful warm spring day!!!!

Tuesday

The people have spoken and I believe this is the picture! I added the words to send to MckMama's site today. We don't own any orange clothes in this household (sorry Texas and TN but YUCK!) ha! So this seemed as close as I could get. We have been praying for Stellan today as well as all the people on my list of links to the left.
We have been pretty busy the last 2 days. Yesterday we had a visit from our friend Lisa. I wish I would have thought to take her picture with Harper. Then we attempted to go for a walk with Kacy and Wells but Harper was NOT happy about that so we ended up scooting on home. Today we met my former co-workers for lunch at Chili's. Harper lasted until I got my food and she began wailing. I think she wanted chips and salsa and I can't fault the girl for crying over that. There is nothing better in the world to me. Chili's chips and salsa and a vanilla coke from Sonic. (and a red velvet cupcake). That would be my last meal if I was ever on death row. (Hopefully I will never need to worry about that. ha!)
I brought her outside for a little bit so I could try to weed jurassic park (i.e. our flower beds). She did NOT love that either. She really needed a nap so I brought her inside.
All through my pregnancy - I kept insisting we MUST have this swing. "Babies love swings" I would say. And up until about a week ago - Harper screamed her head off every time she got near the thing. But for the last week - I put her in it in the afternoon and she will fuss for a little bit but then she goes into a DEEP sleep. Can I get a "PRAISE THE LORD?" This picture is out of focus because it's hard to take an action shot - but I just wanted to share what is helping me get a few things done and have a happier baby. Thank you Graco! :-)

And now I'm hungry thinking about my last meal and I'm wondering what you would choose for your last meal?? (Oh and go ahead and throw in chicken quesadillas - it's my last meal - let's up those calories!)

P.S.
Last minute over ride - I cropped and sharpened this picture a little more and decided to send it in for the dedication picture. She does look so cute and girly and sweet....... it had to be it. (and the big H on her bib doesn't hurt! ha!)

I like to get help from the "internets"

Okay - I need some serious help!

We have baby dedication coming up soon and we have to send in a picture for them to display.
I have the hardest time deciding on one so I'm going to let ya'll vote.
Just leave me a comment and tell me your pick.

The number will be UNDER each picture.

THANKS for helping a biased mom out!!!!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

I'll tally the votes sometime tomorrow and tell you the winner!!!! Thanks for helping me!

Okay - I'm not working on a lot of sleep - I put a poll on the right - so pick and then go over and vote! What am I thinking??? That I have hours to sit around counting up votes? ha!

Weekend

We've had a pretty quiet weekend here at our house. Harper slept most of yesterday. She took a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. So I got a lot done. I thought that would mean she would sleep good last night but no such luck. For the past week - she has been waking up every 2 hours. As you can imagine - I'm feeling fresh as a daisy. ha!

Here she is before church this morning. We got to church a little late so all the back pews were taken. (ha!) So we moved up to the balcony. I have never sat in the balcony before so that was a new experience. Harper only made it about 15-20 minutes and she had had enough. So we went out and walked around a while and then she ate and fell asleep.

I had the good idea that since we was asleep in her car seat that she would probably stay asleep so we could go eat brunch at Copelands. Scott and I used to eat lunch there on Sundays almost every week so I have missed it. Well of course as soon as we ordered she was awake and not thrilled. So we shoved our food down and hurried home. Oh how life has changed. ha! At least they have a jazz band that plays on Sundays so her screams were drowned out by the music!
I have been needing a spring/summer wreath for my front door. I had been saving up to get one at a store I like but yesterday I ran a few errands while Scott stayed home with Harper and since she was sleeping so much he told me to stay gone longer if I wanted to so I stopped by a store that was having a good sale and found this wreath for about 1/3 of what I would have spent at the other store. I was so excited and I think it adds something to our front door!

We have a busy week planned. Harper's aunt and uncle are coming to visit next weekend along with her grandparents so I'll be getting things ready for their visit (i.e. cleaning the house) and it's going to be in the 70's and sunny every day this week so I have lots of walks planned and some yard work to be done. I just finished making a "to do" list for the week. I'm a MAJOR list maker. I constantly keep 2-3 notebooks with me so I can write down all my lists. I never seem to get much crossed off unfortunately. (BUT oh the happiness I feel when I do get things crossed off!)

HELP!

This week our church is hosting Team Impact. This is a group of body builders who put on a show of amazing feats and present the Gospel. They go into schools and do presentations at night. I remember seeing them in high school.

Anyway - our church is feeding them all week and I signed up to bring two desserts.
But here is the catch - it's for serious body builders and they have to be low fat.

I don't understand what a low fat dessert is?????

I KNOW Paula Deen can't help me......so I'm asking you - if you have any low fat dessert recipes that will feed at least 12 - can you leave them in the comments or give me ideas. I'm guessing butterfinger cake or red velvet cake balls are not going to be acceptable. (Bless their hearts!)


UPDATE:
First - thanks for all the recipes!!! I have no idea how I will pick but I may even try some for our family. We are trying to lose weight so I guess now would be a good time to try some low fat desserts out. I'll let you know what I make.

Also - there is the cutest family that I have been reading about for a while. They had two PRECIOUS little boys and then recently adopted a little girl and in the midst of adopting found out they were expecting again. They had little Hudson (I'm partial to that name since it's our boy name) this week and he is now in the NICU possibly with pneumonia. Obviously that is a subject I'm very familiar with - please pray for him.
You can read about them on http://sophieshope08.blogspot.com/ Isn't she the cutest mom???

Friends and Babies

I am SO lucky because I have a huge group of friends who are stay at home moms or part time stay at home moms so now that we can get out - I can get together with them. There is a group from our church that get together every other Thursday for play group. I have been so jealous for the last 3 years because I wanted so badly to join. Every time, I would call Laurie and she would give me the lowdown on what happened so I could live vicariously through her.

Well - the day has come. Yesterday I went to my first play group!!!! And it was great! I was so nervous about how Harper would act but she did great. She was interested in the other kids and then she ended up falling asleep.

I love this picture of her checking Emily out. Emily is so sweet - she told me that she "loved Harper" and "awww.... Harper is so cute" . ha!

Here is an attempt at our first picture of our three girls together. It's not easy getting a picture of 3 girls age three and under. ha! Harper looks so little - I always think of her as so big until I compare her to them. They are actually third cousins!
This is Emily and one of her best friends Alex. They are so sweet together. I love the age of 3 and 4. I don't want to wish the months and years away but I can't wait until Harper is 3 and can play with her friends like they do. And say the funniest stuff.

John Michael and Sarah Kate. The duo with the double names. They are SO precious!

I look forward to many, many times of getting babies together to play and being able to visit with my friends.

After we got home - my parents came over for a short visit. They had to come to town for a few reasons so they stopped in to see Harper. We took Harper and Dawson on a walk. They were here so quick that I didn't even take a picture.
But I did take this picture this morning!

Today was another milestone - Harper got out for her first time to a restaurant! We met my friend Kelli for lunch at Gusano's pizza. Harper did pretty good. She really smiled at Kelli at first and then she sat in my lap for the second half of our meal.

We have a pretty free weekend which I'm excited about. Somehow I get nothing done EVER so I'm going to try and catch up on housework while Daddy's home to watch Harper. May even start on the GREAT CLOSET CLEANOUT 2009 (it is the temple of doom right now). Along with that goes my Great Inbox Cleanout. I have over 1000 e-mails that are pretty new that I can't seem to get answered. So if you have written me recently - I'm sorry if I haven't replied. I just don't get a lot of computer time these days - but I'm reading!!! I hope ya'll have a great weekend.

I want to share a few things to pray about for the weekend:

• Please pray for Jason and Kerri. They were expecting their own little girl named Harper and she was delivered on Tuesday and was born stillborn and went to be with Jesus. You can imagine how devastated they are. Please lift them up this weekend.
• Please pray for Amanda, 33, in Ft. Smith, AR. She has 4 young children and is on a heart transplant list. Her father was killed in the line of duty as a policeman when she was a child so they have already suffered heartache. Pray that she recieves a heart soon!
• All those links on the left still need our prayer!
  

Thank you for always being faithful to pray for others! May God be near to each of you this week! (and always!)