Longest Post Ever/Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to each of you! We have had a busy but wonderful weekend. I'm probably the most tired (but happy) that I've ever been. I think weeks of not sleeping and the stress of today has finally caught up with me. Harper and I laid together on the couch and took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I think she knows when Mommy is about to give out. So on to the weekend in pictures.
Scott's parents came on Friday night. It was Scott's mom's 60th birthday so we greeted her with a tiny cake I got at the local upscale gas station/grocery store. (Michael Blount - if you are reading this - wanted you to notice what's in the background - BLUE BELL!) :-)

Saturday after we were all dressed, fed, changed and fed again - we headed out to eat lunch at P.F. Chang's. Harper's head band is a little weird here but she looked cute in another Wal-Mart outfit!
Scott and his dad look like they are heading to a razorback game. ha! YUM for Mongolian Beef and Kung Pao Shrimp! :-)
My mom came in the afternoon and Scott and his dad worked the rest of the day putting in lights in our garage because Scott is turning our garage into a mini gym (more on that later). I went and got my hair done (you'll notice it's shorter in pictures to come) while the two Judy's babysat. Here they are taking Harper on a walk. I think Harper was pretty good. I was nervous leaving her for 3 hours but I'm pretty sure with 3 grandparents and her dad - she was just fine!

I cooked dinner and we ate Swiss Chicken and my mom made a really good apple cake

JiJi held Harper during most of the meals so Momma could eat - thanks for all you did this weekend Judy!!
After dinner we bathed Harper and got everything ready for Sunday. This is kind of gross but funny - my mom caught this picture of Harper spitting up in mid air. ha! Just one of those things we deal with constantly as moms, ha!
This morning as I was getting up - Scott hid cards for me almost like an Easter egg hunt. I found one card laying by Dawson that was from him to me. ha! Then Harper was holding this one while she watched her video. And then he had one for me from him. Each one was very special and he wrote things that meant so much to me. I'm so thankful for Scott and Harper and our little family. I think it goes without saying how special this day is to me this year!
This morning was Mother's Day service and baby dedication. A day I have looked forward to for years (mostly dreading this day but always holding out hope for the day it would be me!) This picture is special. If you have read my blog - you know about Baby Brayden. He was born 3 days before Harper to our friends Jenna and Chris. He was also born with lung issues and was flown to Little Rock and spent a month in the NICU. During the time he and Harper were in the hospital, our church family spent so much time praying for both of these babies and I hope that they knew just what their prayers meant as we stood on that platform this morning with our healthy babies - miracles from God. God truly is so good! This was their first time to meet and Harper is already trying to hold on to Brayden so I guess she knows they are going to be good friends. They were also both miracle babies that were prayed for for years before they finally came!
Here is me and my miracle baby. I hope to take a special mother's day picture of the two of us each year (and any other babies that might come along! ha!)
Here we were waiting to do dedication. We sang a lot of songs and there were 14 people baptised before we went up so we had a long wait. I was trying to keep Harper happy. She did really good.
There were I think 13 babies dedicated. See if you can find us! In case you are wondering what baby dedication is........basically we as parents stand before the church and dedicate our child to the Lord and promise to raise them in a Godly home. Our pastor challenged us to make Jesus the center of our homes and not just on Sundays and then prayed over us. It is my prayer that Scott and I do always point Harper to Jesus. I pray every day that He will be her first love and that she will always live for Him.
Listening to our pastor speak. The church gave us a little Bible for Harper and a book on parenting.
(I got my dress at Ann Taylor Loft. And just keeping it real - I had to stand with my arms in front of me like that because I was so nervous I had sweat rings. ha!ha!ha!)

Harper and her mother and grandmother

I ordered this cake from the best bakery in NWA - Rick's. I thought it turned out cute. It was my VERY favorite and what hopefully will be Harper's favorite - red velvet! SO YUM!

I fixed lunch for our families and Laurie and Steve. This was before I got all the food on the table.
Harper and her grandmother. Harper drooled and spit up all over her first dress so we changed her into her Easter dress for more pictures. ha! We missed you Granddaddy!!!!!!

Laurie, Steve, Emily and Sarah Kate - we were so glad ya'll could join us for lunch

We had Honey baked ham, salad, potato casserole, green bean bundles, grape salad (that I got the recipe from my friend Amanda), monkey bread rolls and cake. I'll post a couple of recipes on my recipe blog later tonight or tomorrow. (By the way - you have to check out the recipe blog - Leslie gave me a makeover and I ABSOLUTELY love it!)
The morning just wore Harper out - this was her during lunch. Notice she's wearing a sweet pearl bracelet - can't start too early learning to accessorise.

Harper and her grandparents

Emily entertained us with dancing after lunch

All in all - it was a wonderful first mother's day (although technically my first mother's day was last year and we ate dinner at a restaurant that had the most amazing view of a Hawaiian sunset and that was pretty great too. ha!) We have a great view of another Arkansas rainy day here.

Pin It