madonna! madonna!

every morning on our way to school, harper and i listen to her children's music cd's. we have been listening to the same ones for a very long time now. she enjoys it, often smiling and taping her leg to the beat. well, this morning i was trying to load a new cd that amo and mel got for her recently. while it was loading, papa don't preach by madonna came on the radio. i looked in the rear view mirror and harper immediately raised her right arm and started pumping her fist to the beat. i asked her if she liked this song and she smiled and nodded yes. we turned it up! sang and danced the rest of the way to school.

harper loves madonna! really, who doesn't?

18 months and counting

a common theme in my blog entries is that time is flying by. it truly is! everyday harper either says or does something new and it amazes us. she is enjoying some quality time with her lolo and lola (my parents) right now. they even watched her all day yesterday. they are so good with her, singing, dancing and laughing with her. mom will often call her a clown when she does something silly and laughs at herself. for some reason, she will not say lola. harper will say lolo over and over. it is hilarious. she knows the difference and who is who, but when we ask her to say lola, she says "lolo!" jean is very proud of the song harper has composed for her. it goes like this. "auntie, eh eh, auntie eh eh." very, very cute. not really sure why she started it, but auntie jean loves it. it's wonderful to see mom and dad enjoy their time with harper right now. i was worried in the beginning and almost gave up on them. but really, how can you resist that girl?

first time without harper

my cousin got married last week and we were invited to the celebration in norfolk, virginia. a few cousins were invited so jean and i made plans to join everyone. we had a fun time hanging out with family and celebrating such a joyous occasion. it was going to be a super quick weekend, so amy and baby decided to stay at home with the dogs. this was the first time i had been away from her since she was born. while i was a little excited to be able to sleep in, not carry around a diaper bag and eat dinner at a regular hour, i knew i would miss my girls. funny how i thought that flying was hectic pre-baby. i enjoyed reading my food and wine magazine while napping on the flight to and from norfolk. amy said she did really well while i was gone, sleeping in and taking long naps. she even went to the children's museum with daddy on saturday. there wasn't even any whining while i was gone. before i left she had previously been sick. it manifested into her wanting me and just me to hold her a lot. to the point of her following me around and crying until i did. i'm hoping a few days away has made her forget that she was starting to do that. she has been in a wonderful mood lately, which has been so fun. she is changing every minute of everyday.

goodbye 2012

some highlights of december:

- harper's first trail of lights with friends joining in the fun
- weekend in new braunfels at a friends river house
- making christmas cut out cookies (twice!)
- one week visit with grandfather and grammy
- holiday dinner in sun city with grandma marie and grandpa ted
- gift explosion on christmas morning for harper
- harper beginning to babble. saying hi and buh bye
- receiving lots of christmas cards/photos
- reading christmas letters that included harper from various family members
- we finally found and tried the filipino food trailer! yum!

looking forward to a wonderful 2013. bring it!

thanksgiving

we had a wonderful thanksgiving again this year. 23 people and a baby sat around the ping pong table in the garage. things went pretty smoothly, i have to say. harper was happy to have her framily entertain her all day long. each time i saw her, she was with someone different. it is nice seeing her interact with everyone and also nice to get a little break too. harper also had a chance to spend time with amy's mom and bill. they visited us for a week over the holiday. we are looking forward to seeing amy's dad and rhoda over christmas too.

we are thankful for so much in our lives. i hope harper realizes just how much we and everyone around her love her.

hi mama

i came home yesterday and as soon as i walked through the front door, harper looked straight at me and said, "hi mama!" it was so clear! it was so sweet. it made me smile. she walked over to me and gave me a hug.

i love her!

bossy pants

auntie jean watched harper sat night while we went to our first UT football game. she gave her dinner and put her to sleep. jean heard about all of the babysitters having such success i think it made her a little nervous. come to find out, harper basically told jean what do and when, pointing at various things. she pointed to her mouth when it was time to eat. she told jean she was all done with reading and pointed to her crib. she is pretty much awesome. i'm allowed to say that, right? auntie jean texted in excitement saying she is part of the no crying club now since harper went to sleep so easily.
we love that she feels comfortable with others and is such an easy baby. fingers crossed it continues this way!