Adventures in Wonderland

POP! Goes the Weasel

2012-01-22T17:38:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd ease back into blogging this year with a short and sweet post! This video was after naptime this week- Harper has opened this jack in the box MANY times, so it absolutely cracked me up that it made her jump this time AND that I happened to be videoing it. She then proceeds to give the pony a hug- I guess she didn't mind the little scare ;)

Enjoy!!

Fallin for Fall...

2011-11-08T21:49:00.003-06:00

Oh how I love fall and this gorgeous weather! We have spent so much time outside lately it's ridiculous! Pretty much from the moment the sun comes up until the moment it goes down- the back doors are wide open for the air, dogs, cats and little person to come and go as they please (I obviously keep tabs on the latter more than the others, but I digress). It has been most helpful to have a nice respite since we've been dealing with the new arrival of: the Terrible Two's. I even took Harper to the doctor yesterday for one of those appointments where you hold your baby up to the doctor and say "something's wrong with it- I just don't know what." And they look at your crazy, check the child's ears and assure you your baby is fine and give you a few tips and tricks to try. I'm making light of things, but I really wanted to make sure we weren't dealing with any medical conditions before I assumed anything.

Days are hit or miss lately- sometimes she wakes up in a great mood and stays that way all day. Other days... not so much :s I'll spare you the details but last week we had a bad day and it involved the dogs wiping out Harper, her bumping her head and then getting so upset that she vomited curdled milk plus mac & cheese all over herself, me, the floor, rug, etc. That would go on our list of not so good days. The very next day- good day- happy as a clam all day! Definitely keeps me on my toes each day- never know what I'm gonna get!

The good days are GOOD though- lots of laughter, new words- words I didn't even know she knew! Some of my favorite things to remember right now are:
- She goes around and gives everyone (including the dogs, cats and toys) kisses before bed time and tells them "night night". I love it!
- She tries to read me books- in particular she has chosen "Guess How Much I Love You" and points to the bunnies while babbling gibberish about what's going on in the story. It's funny because recently she had a very strong opinion about which books I could read her at bedtime and this was on the DO NOT READ list (as judged by her swatting at the book and saying NO if I tried to read it). Apparently it's back on the Bestseller's List now.
- She sings "ABCD" of the Alphabet Song. We sing alot in the car and I love hearing her little voice chiming in from the back seat. She'll also "sing" along to the radio- mostly just droning along to the song but it's so cute and makes me smile every time :)
- Harper is still very cautious, which is fine by me- she is getting much more agile with going up and down stairs. She loves to climb them with me in the morning to let the kitties out (they sleep upstairs). We have to go play with some her toys upstairs before we can venture downstairs to feed them.
- On that note, she LOVES feeding the animals. I'm pretty sure Belle and Dixie have packed on a few pounds from the "extra scoops" they get from the little person who loves feeding them!
- She loves going to Mother's Day Out! Her teachers always circle "happy", "busy" and "chatty" for her mood and she has gotten better about eating and napping (gasp!) while she's there! The past few times I've picked her up she was still sound asleep- not because she'd slept that long but because she didn't fall asleep until 20 minutes prior to pickup time- leading the other moms to think my child is a legendary napper (ha!). One of the moms even told me this morning that she had a conversation with her daughter in the car this morning about she should really "take a nap today, like Harper"... sure enough her daughter napped! Hey, whatever works!

Otherwise, we're just busy as little bees and are looking forward to celebrating the first holiday that Harper will kind of "get it". She knows who Santa Claus is and we're working on the "Ho Ho Ho", so stay tuned.

Hope you're all doing well and having a great fall!!

Hip Hip Hooray for Halloween!!

LOVED handing out candy to the other kiddos!!

NOT interested in the corn cut off the cob... gimme the REAL thing!

YAY!

How real girls eat corn!

After church on Sunday in her owl dress from Nanay :)

...I'd rather be doing this than taking pictures.

Wow- imagine that, we got a smile!

hi!


She loves leaning out her window and yelling "HI!"

Charles nor I was paying attention to her when she went and got a bag of Pita chips out of the pantry- neat!

__________________

Busy Bees

2011-10-10T21:37:00.001-05:00

My, my, MY we have been busy lately! Harper is in Mother's Day out two days a week now, so you would think I'd have all this free time on my hands, but it's quite the opposite. I end up running myself ragged during the five hours I have on Tuesday and Thursdays!

That being said, we are doing great and Harper is quite the entertainer lately! She cracks us up on a daily basis- her antics include:
- walking around placing her hand on things and declaring, very matter-of-factly, "Harper's" (as if that makes it hers)... favorites are my laptop, phones, remotes... technology, mostly.
- standing at the back door screaming "side! side!"... which means outside. The outdoors are pretty much the cheese to our macaroni- even if she's having a bad day- a trip to the good 'ole back yard makes it all better!
- she has started to put two words together- like today she brought me my shoes and said "mommy shoes". Until now she says a zillion words, but doesn't put them together very often. Lately she's said things like "Daddy please," "No no, baby" or "Kitty Toes"... I love the brain in action!!

We're still working on the potty training thing- I totally missed the boat when she was around 17 months and was TOTALLY interested in the potty (I'll spare you the details, but point being she GOT IT). I didn't push it because I wasn't sure we could realistically make it work since she wasn't telling me when she had to go- and since we were about to start Mother's Day Out, where I'm sure they don't totally reinforce your habits at home. Anyhow, I figured she would keep up her interest on the occasional basis, but NOPE. She figured out what it was for and it's pretty much old news. I can now incentivize her with gummies (fruit snacks), so we'll see where we go from here!

We've been doing some fun playdates lately, and it's so cute to see her really interact with other kiddos. She's a bit of an introvert, so some days she's all about the other kids, and some days she keeps to herself. Can't be mad at that.

These are from the "photo shoot" I did when I made her play kitchen. As you can see, she was interested in pretty much everything BUT her play kitchen! We had a good time though :)

Happy to have that darned headband off my head and my fire truck close-by!

We love to give the puppies kisses now!

Driving mommy's car- one of her favorite pastimes

My sweet pea

Love this girl!

DIY Play Kitchen Redo

2011-10-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

This is a really easy play kitchen redo- handy or not, anyone can do it- promise!

I started with a hand-me-down Kidkraft kitchen from our neighbors that looked something like this color-scheme-wise. Search Craig's List and yard sales for a cheap buy!

And here's how it came out:

STEPS:

- Remove all handles, knobs and hinges (if possible). Place knobs and screws in separate baggies and label them so you remember where they came from. There's nothing more frustrating than getting something apart and not being able to get it back together {not that I would know...}

- Sand, prime, paint and seal all surfaces. I used Krylon- Blue Ocean Breeze. There are so many fun colors of spray paint these days! It is safe to use spray paint on childrens furniture as long as there is no chipping, so make sure you sand and/ or seal everything really well. Almost all spray paint is oil-based, so make sure you use an oil-based polyurethane (sealant) if you decide to do a brush-on sealant.

I removed the sink door and did a sink skirt instead. The fabric I used is Robert Kaufman- Metro Cafe Silverware.

I am NOT a seamstress, nor do I intend to take up any new hobbies, so I used some good 'ole fabric glue and did the "eyeball" method to hem the edges... the "eyeball" method consists of looking at your fabric and {in my case} folding it "just below the pink forks" or "just to the right of the blue knives"... you get the idea ;) Point being- it doesn't have to be perfect! Hem the sides first then fold over the top seam so that it forms a pocket for the dowel or tension rod.

Reverse side of sink skirt so you can see the hems

Tip: your fabric should be 1.5 to 2 times the width of the sink in order to give it that gathered look. Example: if the width of the sink is 12" you should use 18"-24" of fabric for the skirt.

The best way to hang the skirt is with a tension rod, but I couldn't find one short enough, so I used a wood dowel and the hardware from a cafe rod (both easily available at a home improvement store).

- Reattach your knobs, faucets, doors, etc. using your handy little baggies from before.

- Sit back and watch your little one enjoy their new treasure!!

DIY Enfamil Container Craft Bucket

2011-09-21T08:33:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been trying to think of ways to contain all of Harper's smaller toys, crayons, etc. While cleaning out the pantry I came across an old Enfamil container and thought- what a great container this is! It's a good size for storing all sorts of junk :) So here's how to make it a little cuter....

Supplies:
Enfamil container
Modge Podge
Sponge Brush
Fabric (approximately 18"x14"). Tip: the Enfamil logo may show through on lighter colors or thinner fabrics, so either choose one that won't show through OR wrap a base layer of solid color fabric underneath the one you want to use).
Trim or ribbon (approximately 18")
Elmer's Glue or hot glue gun

Start with your Enfamil container and snap off the lid

Cut your fabric piece to 18" wide by (approximately) 6" long. Do not worry much about the length- you will trim it off later- just make sure it is at least 5" long.
Wrap it around your container to make sure it will cover the whole thing.
Lay fabric on a flat surface and apply a thick coat of Modge Podge to the back side with a sponge brush. The fabric should be damp with glue (but not wet).
Mold fabric around container- edges should overlap about 1/2"- 1"- make sure your seam ends up in the back (on the side with the lid clips). Apply extra Modge Podge to the seam to make sure the fabric sticks together. Turn container upside down and let dry 2 hours.
Trim off excess fabric around the bottom edge of your container.
Apply a thin coat of Modge Podge to entire surface of fabric. Allow to dry completely.

Back side of container

Your container should look like this so far...

Front side

Attach your trim in the little lip around the top edge of the container using Elmer's or a hot glue gun.

Use 1/4" pom pom trim or ribbon

Almost done!

Now load up with goodies and enjoy!

Other uses for this container:

Flower pot

Bathroom hand towel holder

Kitchen utensils

Pretty much anything you can think of :)

Enjoy!

Lately...

2011-08-28T22:13:00.001-05:00

We're still here- promise!!! I go in phases with blogging- if I post a couple times a week, it's great, but then if I go a week without blogging I just FALL off the bandwagon.... for weeks! My apologies!!

Harper had her 18-month checkup last week and, as per usual, she's still long and skinny!!

Height: 34" (+95th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs. 15 oz. (25th percentile)
Head: 18.75" (75th percentile)

Lately she has been jabbering up a storm- and not just single words, but more like these jibberish conversations like she's really trying to tell us a story. So we pretend like we understand every word she says and encourage her with "Yeah?'s" and "What else?'s" She says words now that I didn't even know she knew- it's crazy how much they are like little sponges at this age!!

Harper starts Mothers' Day Out on Tuesday, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't super excited :) I am looking forward to the simple things- like running errands or being able to go get a haircut or go to a doctors appointment by myself... heck, I may even just come home and sit in the silence of my empty house! But seriously, I think it's going to be good for both of us! Here she is with her new backpack

Here are some pics from our first-go at pigtails... as you can see, someone thought it was fantastic! Now she climbs up into the chair where I do her hair and starts yelling "hair! hair!" while picking up the comb and water bottle...

We had a fun playdate at Gami and Papa's (Charles' mom and Bob's)- Harper got to hang out with her cousins, swim and watch Peter Pan. It was a great night :)

Coloring with Hadley

Watching Peter Pan with Kendall

Sweet Cousins :)

I used to fit in this thing!!

We got a fun new playhouse from friend-of-friends... and clearly it is a hit!! Now we just need the temperatures to be below 100 degrees so we can enjoy it more :)

Have a great week!!

Heaven has yet another angel...

2011-07-28T17:24:00.003-05:00

.... my sweet 20-year-old cousin, Wade Witmer, was tragically killed in an auto accident last Friday night. He was with 4 of his buddies, and he did not suffer at all.

Where to begin...

Technically, Wade is my first cousin once removed (he is my cousin's son), but seeing as I am ten years younger than my cousin and ten years older than Wade, I've always felt like they were both my cousins, if that makes any sense. I have the fondest memories of our Christmas Eves together with the family. Every year we congregate at my Aunt Kay and Uncle Ernest's house where we gorge ourselves on her fantastic spread including mac and cheese, creamed corn, dressing, cornbread, jalapenos and pickles made from her garden, cobbler, pie... ahh my mouth is watering just thinking about it!! We proceed to play board games and stay up way too late.... only to be awakened by my cousin Kayla WAY too early the next morning :)

Wade was the first grandchild on my dad's side of the family, so he was a big deal. I was only ten when he was born, but I remember the excitement surrounding him. Wade was born premature, so he was always a fighter. His dad, Michael, taught him to be even tougher than nature already made him. He loved to hunt, fish and do all things outdoors. The minister at his funeral said the hog population of Texas might get out of control without him :)

When Wade was about 3 or 4, a beautiful, wonderful woman named Chrissy came into Michael's life. I'm pretty sure she has wings, although I have yet to lay my eyes on them, I'm pretty sure they're there ;) She was loving, sweet, and most importantly took Wade in like he was her own child. She was an immediate member of the family, and we were all blessed to have her in our lives.

Over the years Wade grew into a spunky teenager... never without a funny story or a quick-witted comment, he usually had the family rolling. He graduated from high school in 2009 and was working at a job with a construction firm in Tyler, a job he absolutely loved. Not many people his age have such clarity about what they want to do AND go do it. Wade did. He was not one to beat around the bush or to wait for others to do something- he was a good kid with alot of ambition .

High School Graduation

Prom

Studmuffin

Monday was the service to remember his life, and it was absolutely one of the hardest days of my life. Not only was it devastating to attend the funeral of someone so young who should still be running around like 20-year-olds do, but it was even more devastating to see Chrissy and Michael and the pain they are in. Wade was their world, and that world has drastically changed in an instant. Although you would never ever wish anything like this to happen to anyone....ever.... the outpouring of love and support from the East Texas community was like nothing I've ever seen. Clarksville is a small town of about 3,500 people, yet around 1,000 people gathered on Sunday for the Visitation, some waiting outside for an hour and a half just to express their condolences. That evening a group of high schoolers held a candlelight vigil, which was attended by hundreds. At the service on Monday, the church was filled to the brim with somewhere around 700 people. The auditorium, cafeteria and side rooms (where the service was being telecasted)... packed.... even chairs in the hallways... and there were still people standing around the perimeters to remember Wade and show their support. I've never seen so many flowers in my life!

Candlelight Vigil 7/24/11

Nothing can bring Wade back or take away their pain, but I imagine that IF you are going to lose your beloved child, the one thing that COULD help would be to have a showing of support like we witnessed on Monday. It was absolutely heartwarming and inspiring. It makes you hope that if you were to pass away that you would have touched so many peoples' lives in the way that Wade did, and that the community surrounding your parents would take care of them like this during the tough days, months, years ahead...

It's sad that it takes events like these to realize what you have, but it reminded me just how wonderful my family is and how I am so thankful to have each and every one of them in my life. My cousin Kayla's husband came out to our car as we were leaving and tearfully reminded me to hug Harper tight and cherish every second with her. He said that Wade came to visit on July 4th and Robert stopped him as he left, grabbed, hugged and kissed him (much to Wade's dismay), but now he's so glad that he did. His two kids, Katie and Keith are precious examples of God's spirit. My cousin Kristy and her husband Doug have two of the sweetest, most well-mannered teenage boys I've ever met. I feel sad that these kiddos have lost the cousin they grew up with and looked up to, but I know they will all play together in Heaven again someday.

Receiving a scholarship to college

With his proud momma and grandmother

With Big Momma (my Aunt Kay) and her beautiful lemon tree

Mother and Son

I was blessed to know Wade, and I know he's cuttin-up with the angels right now and making everyone laugh. He is in a better place and will be just fine, but to Mike and Chrissy who have to somehow keep going without their sweet boy, I say this:

The sun will rise again,
The World once more will spin.
We will surely see,
That Wade was sent to be,
Our angel from above,
Sent to us with love.
Our gracious God to thee:
Thank you for bringing him to Me.

I love you all,
Jennie

Wade Thompson Witmer
April 8, 1991 - July 23, 2011
http://www.clarksvillefuneralhome.com/288/Wade-Witmer-Memorial

Heaven's Newest Angel

2011-07-17T12:04:00.001-05:00

Heaven has its newest angel as of yesterday afternoon. Baby James that I posted about a few weeks ago went to be with Lord after a very brave fight.

Although I did not personally know the Sikes family, I felt like I did after reading Kara and Matthew's poignant posts over the past few weeks as James battled his brain tumor. The heartfelt, yet honest, way with which they wrote made you feel every emotion they experienced. Their positive attitude as well as their faith in the fact that this was God's plan for their son were moving. I have no doubt many people found the Lord as a result of this, and baby Jamesie will go on affecting peoples' lives for years to come.

To say that I have been deeply affected by James' story would be a pitiful understatement. I have been absolutely devastated about it. I can't help but picture myself going through this as I read their posts, which in turn makes me think about something ever happening to Harper, and that I just can't cope with. One of the comments posted on the Sikes' blog said this:

".... that God often saves the greatest sorrow for the strongest people of faith because He trusts and loves those people the most. God trusts these special people to reflect His glory when the rest of us would succumb to anger and self pity. As I come to know your unbelievable commitment to God during the greatest of sorrow, I believe you and James are three of those people, most trusted and loved by God, meant to be a light to the rest of us."

I absolutely agree with this amazing comment.... and I can't help but think that I would be in the group succumbing to anger and self pity. I've been so angry about this even as a bystander. Why did it have to be baby James who was their first child and the first grandchild on both sides of their family- a big deal, in other words. Why did it have to happen to Kara- who was such a doting mom that she took weekly milestone pics of James in the same chair with a dated sign (when most moms only manage monthly pics, at best)? And Matthew- who seems to be the most wonderful father and who loved his son deeply. But like the comment above says- God trusted them to not only deal with the incredibly painful task of losing their son, but also ministering to the rest of the world in the process. I am in absolute awe and my heart breaks for them during this time. I can only hope that God blesses the rest of their lives in ways they cannot currently imagine.

This is a beautifully-made video shot about a week before baby James passed away- and being the small world that it is, the pictures were done by the wife of a high-school friend of mine. They are absolutely beautiful memories of this sweet baby and I hope they bring much comfort to Kara and Matthew.

God bless this sweet baby and the impact he's had on my life and thousands of others.

Love,
Jennie

Taos Tears....

2011-07-11T17:54:00.000-05:00

I am supposed to be here right now....

1.4 acres of serenity in Taos, New Mexico. The high is 84 degrees with 36% humidity. Instead I'm sitting on my couch with a soundtrack of Elmo songs in the background while Charles plays videos for Harper on his iPhone. Unfortunately we had to cancel our trip because of this...

... and the air looks like this....

We were so sad to cancel, but we did not want to risk taking a baby who's never been in altitude... throw on poor air quality to boot.... or just cross our fingers that the winds were blowing in the other direction. We sure hope the fires are contained soon for the residents of New Mexico (and any other poor souls who were REALLY looking forward to their vacation in New Mexico and can't go now :(

OK, I think I'm done with my pity party now- thank you for listening! Since Charles had already blocked out his calendar for this week we've decided to do a little "stay-cation" instead. We have a babysitter coming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so we can do things like shop, dinner, movies- whatever we feel like! I'm looking forward to it.... especially the shopping part (as evidenced by the fact that I listed it first in my list of activities :)

One more bit of news in my life is that my daughter is officially obsessed with Elmo... OBSESSED. I have watched this video more times than I can count in the past 4 days:

I've spent the past few months WISHING Harper would take a *little* interest in TV shows (so I could selfishly get a load of laundry done or something).... but now I'm wishing I could get this furry red guy's songs out of my head! I seriously went to bed the other night singing this song!!

K well I hope you're all having a great week... and staying cool!!!! Sheesh!!!

4th of Julio

2011-07-06T21:34:00.002-05:00

Happy 4th of Julio!!! For the 4th we went out to East Texas to visit my Aunt Nanci's crew and to celebrate Bryce's (grandchild #5) 14th birthday. Harps could not wait to see Mimi and Pops (who will be moving in across the street from my Aunt Nanci and Uncle Bruce when they retire)- and she even said NaNa (NayNay) for Aunt Nanci a couple times :) We had a great weekend- here are some pics!

Had Mimi's bling on within minutes ;)

Showin it off!

You'd think we planned the color scheme :)

Poolin' it with Mimi

Love me some pool.

Yes, that's right, we strapped her carseat into the 6-person ATV called The Mule. We went for a ride around the property which she thought was the best thing ever!!

Kellen and Harper

....aaaaaand someone thought the ride in The Mule was so relaxing she decided to take a nap....

Me and my cousin Angie

Saying bye-bye to Mimi :)

We also spent an afternoon with Gami and Papa (Charles' mom and stepdad) and had a GREAT time! I've inevitably forgotten my camera the last few times we've hung out with them, so I apologize for no pics :( We played for a while and then went out back to sit by the pool, sip some wine and go weee-weeee (what Harper calls swinging ;)

We had a great weekend and we hope you did too!!

Jennie

Fathers Day Fun!

2011-06-30T22:19:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late on posting but we had a great Fathers Day last weekend! We went over to my parents in Arlington for lunch and had a fabulous time as always- here are some pics from our visit!

Love hanging out at Mimi and Pops'

You talkin to me??

Giving Pops his handmade card (she "colored" one for Charles too)

Love this girl!

My favorite pic of the day!!

Harper would NOT look at the camera!!

.... and with the man of the hour: her Dada

LOVE my daddy!!!

On another note....
I've talked to some of you about my sister Melanie but for those of you I haven't: about two weeks ago Mel started having droopy eyelids and double vision- like she just couldn't hold them open. Then a few days later her upper lip started getting weak especially when she tried to eat. She sent me a video and I told her it looked like she went to the dentist and the numbness has yet to wear off- when you just can't quite get your mouth to work right. Anyhow, a battery of tests and an MRI likely point to a neuro-muscular disorder called Myasthenia Gravis. It is treatable but not curable, and though in most cases it's not debilitating, it is still a game-changer. Thankfully she has responded very well to the medications so far and is hoping to avoid having to go on steroids, which come with lots of not-fun side-effects. She and her husband Cory are moving from Tampa to Nashville in two weeks, so they already had alot on their plates before this little wrinkle. My sister has always been and continues to be the most positive person I know, so I know she will beat this and teach us all a lesson in how a true lady deals with the many challenges on the road of life. But we love you aunt Mellie and we're praying for you always!!!

In addition to my sister, I feel like God has been reminding me lately of what a blessing good health is. A friend-of-a-friend has a 7.5 month old son who was just diagnosed with a highly malignant brain tumor- I absolutely cannot imagine. Her post today talks about how she used to hold him for his naps everyday (a bad habit I, too, have gotten into). But today when I held Harper for her nap.... I cried... Alligator Tears. I thought about this sweet mother who cannot hold her baby for his nap today... who can't smell his sweet breath and see the sleepy look on his face when he wakes up.... who doesn't even know how many more days she will have with her sweet child... but thankfully, she knows his fate rests with our dear Lord up above, and what more can you ask. I pray tonight for sweet James, my sister and anyone dealing with health issues. Our Lord is all-healing and has more power than any of us can even imagine, and for that I am thankful.

Sweet dreams,
Jennie

Bye Bye Bella Vita!

2011-06-19T20:22:00.001-05:00

What do you get when you have a husband who once stepped through one of your doggie chairs, fell and caused the following carnage (plus some bruises to his hip and injured pride)....

.... whose wife's doggie chair business hasn't made a dime since inception (but was really fun) and whose garage is completely consumed by this side gig??

A DOGGIE CHAIR SALE!! That's right, folks, Bella Vita Pet is coming to at least a temporary close *tear*. In all truth, I have been lacking any inspiration since Harper was born, but I continued to sell them on Etsy thinking my mojo might come back......

I even recently designed a new logo hoping it would re-energize me......

NOPE. Each time an order came in I would be excited for about a day (it's always exciting when someone chooses YOUR item to buy... plus I loved seeing what styles and color combinations people chose). After a couple days the excitement would fade... and a week after that I would finally drag myself out to the garage to paint and decorate and would barely meet my turnaround time window due to sheer procrastination- not my style. Plus- the boxes I ship my big pieces in are HUGE... ever used a Dish Barrel box from U-Haul?? Yep- that's what I used to ship- huge, clumbersome and when it came down to it: a PITA.

Am I sad to close up shop? Yes. Do I feel like I could've made BVP more successful if I had tried harder? Definitely. Am I ready to have my garage back and do I feel good about the fact I made some really fun bowls and met some really fun people all across the world?? ABSOLUTELY!!! I joke about Charles wanting this to all just go away, but he was my biggest supporter and fan from the start and was the reason I even gave it a shot in the first place. He is a saint when it comes down to it... having ZERO garage for the past 4 years and a kitchen table so cluttered with craft stuff that we could barely find room to feed our daughter... SAINT.

In honor of the "closing" of Bella Vita Pet I thought I would post a few of my favorite bowls....

The Aqua Blossom chair- most popular bowl and featured in the most blogs/ press

My dear friend Lindsey's bowl for Guinness (Guinney!!)- made with a swatch of fabric instead of my usual scrapbook papers

A chair I made for a co-worker's daughter for her first birthday- sweet Piper!!

A spicy little set I did for a sassy shop owner at Chi-O Christmas with a Standard Poodle.

One of my faves of all time- a doll chair I found at an antique store that I cut a hole in for the bowl

Belle and Dixie's original chairs made from....

...these bad boys that I picked up at an estate sale. My dad cut holes in them for me the day we moved into Wonderland :)

And probably my favorite thing ever (while ironically not a dog bowl) was seeing the chair I made for my friend Kristen as a baby shower gift- she took her precious daughter's picture in her chair every month until she was 2- it made my day each month to see sweet Ava in her chair :)

Ava's 2nd Birthday!!

So with that, I will say that it has been so fun.... aaaaaaand if you want an unfinished dog bowl to make one yourself PLEASE let me know! I have them listed on Craig's List but apparently they're not that appealling to DIY-ers and I'm REALLY not looking forward to putting them out for big trash this weekend- so seriously email me if you want one (except Lisa... I am SO finishing Ally-cat's bowl- hehe :)

Thank you all for your support and always asking about my bowls- y'all are the best!!!

Love,
Jennie

Wedded Bliss

2011-06-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

On June 10th Charles and celebrated 5 years of being married- my how times flies!! Every year on our anniversary we do a play-by-play of the day we got married. It's not some super-romantic tradition we have, it's more because we like to pretend we are at a fabulous resort being waited on hand-and-foot, putting on our fancies, getting married on the beach and then dancing the night away (now you see why we replay the day). Charles' favorite memory of the day was his mother coming to fetch him from the pool (rum punch in hand) to tell him he had 45 minutes until he needed to be on the beach with his suit on- he's like who else can say that of their wedding day?!

To celebrate our 5 years of wedded bliss we went to...where else... Capital Grille, our fave! We made sure our favorite server Kourtney was working (you'll see why we love her so much) and Mimi came to watch Harps. Here are some pics of our night:

5 Years with my love :)

Harper LOOOVES her Mimi!

At our table

YUMMM!!!

The beautiful flowers from our favorite server, Kourtney... notice the heart-shaped confetti too- it was too cute!!

Wine snob ;)

I got the King Crab legs they had on special that night... I'm not a big seafood fan, but fresh crab is one of the tastiest things I've ever put in my mouth!! Thank you to the men of Deadliest Catch ;)

Charles got the filet with the Delmonico rub (Kourtney's recommendation)

And finally, this is really why we go to Capital Grille: their Coconut Cream Pie. Drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with fresh whipped cream- it is seriously ridiculous!

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The next morning Harper wanted to put her tutu on over her pj's to help celebrate :)

I am so blessed to have the most wonderful husband in the world who loves me on days when I'm not very lovable and who supports me each and every step of the way on this journey together. He is an incredible father to Harper, and she is so lucky to have the best daddy in the world. I love you Charles Jones- here's to 5 years many times over!!!

Love,
Jennie

A Day in the Life

2011-06-02T10:02:00.000-05:00

As promised, a few more pictures since I've been a little light on them lately :)

Favorite Activity #1: Pushing around her babies, of course! In this case, it was her mouse:

Topping him off before we get going

Getting mousie situated for the ride

Off we go!

Better buckle him up before I get a ticket...

...and the other side

That's better!

Favorite Activity #2: putting stuff in bags and taking it back out (apparently it's fascinating!!)

Let's see what's in here!

Dangit, I could've saved a bunch of money on my car insurance!

Third favorite activity (most favoritest of all!): Torturing (err playing with) Orange Cat:

See that kitty behind me????

I loooove him!

Feeling a bit sorry for Orange Cat? Don't! This is what he does most of the day... I'm SO coming back as a cat in my next life!! Thank you Glenna for the fluffy pink tutu... Harper AND Orange Cat love it :)

Love,
Jennie

15 Months of Harper!

2011-05-25T11:26:00.001-05:00

Last week we celebrated Harper's 15-month birthday by what else.... a trip to the doctor!! I expected the worst since her 12-month visit didn't go so well, but at some point she reached for the nurse (who sort of looked like my mom) and cuddled up on her chest and got really still- it was the sweetest thing ever! She's good at the cuddles :)

Her stats at 15 months were:
Length: 32 inches (90th percentile)- thank you Jones family gene pool!! :o)
Weight: 20.14 lbs. (5th or 50th percentile... huh?!... see below)
Head: 18.25" (60th percentile)

Sooo... about her weight- as some of you know we have struggled with putting weight on this string bean. I have worried about it many hours, so when the nurse first told me she had dropped yet again to the 5th percentile, you can imagine my worry. BUT the doctor came in and said the World Health Organization published new growth charts that would land her in the 50th percentile now- who knew?! He then called in the head nurse (which is when Harper did her cuddling move) so that she could reprimand the nurse who had used the old charts- eeks! Now I know what you're thinking- who really cares about percentiles and do they really mean anything, right? Well in our case, Harper has gotten leaner by the visit, so it was good to hear they've revised the charts to show that it's OK for toddlers to "lean out" a little.... apparently it's all in response to the childhood obesity epidemic... blah blah blah. But enough about baby growth percentiles- on to the fun stuff!!

Harper FINALLY started walking... as luck should have it on the very same day we went to the doctor. It was that night after bath time- we were playing in the living room for a few minutes before bedtime, and it was like a lightbulb went off! She has been fully capable of walking for a long time now, but just didn't quite feel sure enough to let go of the furniture or wall. Now- look out! She's off!! My favorite scene was yesterday as I was putting on my makeup and watching her in the mirror behind me as she was putting her teddy bear in her babydoll stroller and pushing him around- melted my heart! I'm still getting used to seeing her upright... it really hits home that she's not a baby anymore!!

I have been a bad mommy and I've taken very few pictures lately. Not sure if it's because I'm chasing her around 24/7 or if it's because I keep the cameras out of reach now which makes them less accessible to grab when she's doing something cute.... not sure, but I promise more soon!

The view I see coming at me alot now!

So proud of herself for standing up :)

Other fun facts for the month:
- Chatterbox: I didn't realize how many words she says until I started counting them before her visit- I think it was at 19! She says everything from bottle (ba-ba), shoes (sooz), night night and LOTS of animal sounds!
- Baby Lover: she is still crazy obsessed with her babies! She pushes them around in her little pink stroller, feeds them bottles and even puts them in a makeshift crib (Huggies box with some blankets in it) and tells them "night, night". I tell her how good of a mommy she is ;)

- Dada is a Rockstar: I want to be Dada. Dada is the cheese to Harper's macaroni, the Greek God of Wonderland Trail. When he's gone that's all Harper talks about, if she hears a sound she assumes it's him and starts yelling Dada! and when he comes home it's a mad dash for the door to see him... it's the sweetest thing ever! Charles went to Natchez last weekend and towards the end, I pretty much avoided saying Dada because she would get excited and start crawling for the door :( She's also started to say Daddy now, which for some reason is even cuter!

- Dancing Queen: she likes to boogie now. Her favorite is a little playhouse she has with buttons that play music. She will push one and then look over at me to make sure I'm watching and then boogie around while it plays. She also likes The Office theme song, so we have played and rewound the intro to the show I don't know how many times now so she can bounce to it ;)

- One other major improvement is that her doctor told me she was drinking way too much milk (which I already knew- I was giving her more since she doesn't eat very much regular food), but he said she's not hungry because she's getting so much milk. Anyhow, I cut it in half and not only is she eating more, but she is in a MUCH better mood and is way less fussy! I think I was giving her so much milk that she didn't feel good, which resulted in a super-clingy, fussy baby... and a really stressed out mommy! As I sit and type she is over on the floor "talking" on her play phone and pointing out her bear's eyes and nose... ahhh independent play... NOT overrated!!

This has been a busy but awesome month! I feel so blessed to be mommy to the sweetest little doodle in the whole world- I love you Harper- to the moon and back :)

Throwing daddy's shoe over her shoulder

....and trying to hang it from the stroller like a shopping bag- thatta girl ;)

My Sweet Pea Doodle

Stay, Baby... STAY!!!

2011-05-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

No, this is not what I tell Harper (well, maybe sometimes)... it sure doesn't work though! This series of videos cracked me up! Harper LOVES her baby dolls. I was not a baby doll-type, so I didn't think to buy her a baby doll until her Aunt Carol bought her one last fall... and the rest is history! She has 4 or 5 now and she'll pick a favorite every few days and play with it the most. She feeds them her bottles and gives them hugs and kisses- it's so sweet! Sometimes, though, she gets really excited and bangs their heads on the floor... we'll have to work on that one before baby #2 ;)

I bought this doll chair at one of the many estate sales I went to in my past life. I have no idea what I bought it for- I think I just liked it and couldn't resist the whole "it's only 2 dollars" excuse. I came across it while cleaning out a closet the other day and thought Harps would like it. These videos are of her trying to put her baby doll in the chair- hope you enjoy them :)

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...

The frustration mounts...

We decided to try Dora this time- she's lighter and not quite as ornery... I love how she tells the baby to "STAY" (or her version of stay) once she gets her in the chair ;)

Love,

Jennie

A Step in the Right Direction

2011-04-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Finally- we have a walker!!!!!!! Last Tuesday while I was at my friend Lindsey's for a playdate, Harper decided she had the right audience to take her first true steps. Lindsey and Heather were cheering her on, so I guess it's safe to assume I have a ham for a daughter because she was loving the applause and took her first steps :)

Since then she's been practicing alot and has figured out how to stand herself up. Here are two videos- I couldn't get her to stand up AND walk in the same video, but you get the idea ;) It's been so neat, yet strange for Charles and I to see her upright- we're so used to seeing her crawling around on the ground. She's starting to look like such a big girl now *tear*! Charles bought her some of those squeaky shoes, so I'm sure you'll see some video soon of her bee-boppin around the house in those :)
ENJOY!!

Love,
Jen

Standing up...

And finally, some kitty table tennis- who doesn't love that?!

Alive????

2011-04-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, I promise, I am!! Wow- this has been one of the longest breaks I've taken from blogging ever!! As always, it's not one thing that's been consuming me- just two or three side projects and the hectic-ness of life these days... and voila, here we are a month later!

As you may know, Charles and I went to Mexico earlier this month with our dear friends Lindsey and Clint Encinias. Instead of trying to recap our AMAZING trip I am going to shamelessly repost Lindsey's post about the trip. Cop out? Yes. Great recap of our travels? Absolutely. She is a far better writer and blogger than I will ever be, and to try and do a better recap would just be.... well a waste of time, and apparently I don't have enough of that these days! Thanks Linds for letting me steal! It was such an awesome trip, I can't imagine going with anyone else and I would give my left arm for that pool and our Miguel right now :)

Trip to Mexico recap

What else have we been up to lately??? Well we finally got around to hanging Harper's swing- it was a sweet gift from her Gami and Papa for her bday. Although it took us almost two months to hang, I felt alot better when a couple walked by while we were hanging it and said they were glad to know other families operate with the same lag-time they have :) At any rate, Harps LOVES her new swing and does her neandrathal-style grunt and points to the front door to signal she'd like to go swing.... all. day. long. :) Thank you Gami and Papa!!

Hanging on for the ride!

Sweet girl

I think I like this thing!

Breezin'

I will post the fabulous Easter pics by my sweet friend Anna Vines soon- she was brave enough to shoot Harper and her 4 sweet cousins- Kendall, Hadley, Anna and sweet baby Julia. Here is a sneak peek (actually it's more like dessert before dinner since it's the group shot), but I can't resist!

From left: Anna (3), Harper (1), baby Julia (6 months), Kendall (6), Hadley (3)

Happy week to everyone!!

Jennie

Girly Girl

2011-03-24T21:03:00.000-05:00

I hosted a shower for my good friend at Caroline a couple weeks ago at Concentra where I used to work. It was absolutely wonderful to see all my old co-workers and to celebrate Caroline and Colby getting married- April 9th is the big day! A couple pics from the shower :)

Caroline and Colby- the honorees!!

OG Concentra Girls: Claudia, Mallivan, Caroline, Me and Cheryl

Besides all the fun of the shower, my daughter picked up a funny new habit: accessorizing! Someone slipped a string of Mardi Gras beads on her head and (although she was SO overstimulated by so many people) she INSISTED on wearing these beads the whole time! If I took them off she was NOT happy about it....sooo I let her attempt to crawl around with a strand of beads twice as big as her!

Don't you TOUCH my beads!!

Still working the beads...

Since then she has been obsessed with my necklaces (or anything resembling a necklace). Since most of my necklaces have beads I don't leave them within Harper-reach, which means she improvizes using whatever she finds. One night it was the leg of her pajamas that she draped around her neck as best she could, one day it was the printer cable (yes this new hobby comes with a dangerous side effect, as if I didn't have enough on my hands ;) Some more accessorizing pics:

Rockin the shades at Tom Thumb

SOO cool!

Blurry cell phone pic, but you get the idea.... thank you Sarah for the birthday bow!!

My favorite, though was this night. For those mommies out there, you probably know what this is. For those who don't have the luxury of changing stinky diapers on a daily basis, this is the little plastic piece that comes off of a Diaper Genie refill (a handy little device to contain aforementioned stinky diaper smell). I went to get her bottle before bedtime and came back to this- absolutely cracked me up! Creative little thing- hopefully that means she'll always be good at accessorizing ;)

"The magazine said bright pops of color..."

"Cheap costume jewelry... I hope I saved my receipt."

Fah-bulous dahling!!

This girl is on the move these days and keeping me super busy! She is super excited to spend some time with all her grandparents next week when Charles and I go to Cancun!! A super-fun surprise (that I couldn't share before) is that our good friend Lindsey and Clint are going with us on our trip- YAHOO!! Linds didn't know yet so I couldn't say anything, but I could not be more excited to help her celebrate her 30th birthday and spend some time pool-side with drinks in hand ;) One week and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few last pics to leave you with- hope you're all having a great week!!!

On the move!

Gray Cat only thinks he's hiding...

Peek-a-boo kitty!!!!

Sweet girl (clapping her hands :)

Love,
Jennie

Playdatin' It

2011-03-06T21:31:00.000-06:00

We had an awesome playdate with Lisa and Will at the Arboretum last week- makes me very happy that we bought our year-round pass so we can go as much as we want! Yippeeee!!

Determined not to look at the camera today...

Hey what's this green stuff? Our is brown :s

Amazed by the lawnmower... it's the simple things, people...

Alright, alright, I'll look at you, but I won't smile!

Who's this cute boy behind me??

I think I LIKE him!!

Jennie

Day-dreamin'

2011-03-02T21:23:00.000-06:00

On Fussy-Baby days like today I can't help but think of this:

This is Zoetry outside of Cancun, where Charles and I will be spending 4 whole nights at the end of this month. I absolutely can't wait!!!! This will be the first "real" vacation we have taken without Harper. I know, I know, we've taken some cool trips with her already, but as anyone knows who has traveled with an infant... it's not vacation. This will be :) No offense to my Sweet Pea Doodle (her nickname lately)- I will miss her like crazy, BUT I can't help fantasizing about (no, mom, you do not have to stop reading here)...

The pools and beach:

Fantastic food and drinks....

Not staring at one of these all day!!!

and spending time with this guy, the love of my life :)

...and now if only we looked like this... baaaahahahaha! We can always dream, right?!

~Jennie

Walk like the animals....

2011-02-23T21:39:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we took Harper to the zoo for the first time. She is pretty much obsessed with animals (books with animals, animal sounds and our very own cats and dogs), so it was only appropriate to show her some of these critters in person! The weather was beautiful and we had a great day!

Checkin out the monkeys with daddy

Monkeyin around

My loves!

Doodle!! (pardon the large circle in the middle of her forehead- bad lighting :(

Caught this guy taking a sip of water

Sorry dude, total invasion of privacy

Aww, and you still posed for us :)

Girl pic!

Another girl pic!

hahaha- we're so funny!!

How to know when your child is done with the zoo:

Lookin' a little bored... never a good sign

You mean I don't get to take any of these animals home with me?!
This is a crock!!

Sock #1: OFF

Sock #2: OFF

Sock #1: ON THE GROUND
Sock #2: ON THE WAY
(Note the shoes underneath the stroller- we played this game with them, too.)

And with that..... we headed for the exit, avoiding the over-tired meltdown... SUCCESS!!

Video Friday!

2011-02-18T07:49:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of quick videos for your Friday viewing pleasure!

The first is of Harper saying "Dada"- she was so impressed with her new skill that she is now holding out and saving it only for rare occasions. The first few days she would say it anytime we asked her to... now, not so much ;)

The second video is of Mimi getting Harper to bark- this is RIGHT after we realized she could do it, so we figured we better get it on video. Unlike "dada" she is happy to bark anytime we'd like and does it quite often without any prompting if she hears the dogs barking outside. Again, we see our place in Harper's world ;)

Enjoy!!

ONE YEAR of Harper!!

2011-02-16T21:06:00.003-06:00

Around this time last year I had a two-day-old baby and was still in the hospital recovering from my c-section having no clue what my new life was going to look like once we got home with our little bundle of joy. Today, I am chasing around a spunky, fun-loving 12-month old who loves baby dolls, cheese and can bark like a dog (more on that later). During our Valentine's Day dinner on Monday night (which included a high chair and apologies to the waitstaff for *someone* making such a mess... can't take him anywhere :), we were trying to remember what we expected out of parenthood before Harper was born. It's funny- neither of us could really remember what we expected- it just became what it became, which is far better than what either of us expected. Not to say it's fun and games all of the time- there are days of teething pain (she recently got her top AND bottom molars on one side), ever-changing sleep schedules, bumps and spills as she practices crawling and crusing, but all that to say, I wouldn't change things for the world, and I've had more fun in the last year than I ever thought possible!

We had a fun party on Sunday to celebrate- here are some pics from the shindig (pics by my very talented friend Anna who will soon have a website and blog- she's amazing :)

The Birthday Girl

The invite

Party Favors

Cake topper by Kids Cakes on Etsy- this is what inspired the owl theme altogether!

Cupcakes by moi (toppers by Kids Cakes)

Enjoying the beautiful weather with Pops!

The yellow one is waaaay better than the blue one!!

Sweet Abbi Kate (Trey and Alexa's daughter)

My gorgeous friend Gina and sweet Mack

May all your wishes come true, baby girl!

Family photo op!

Cruisin with Mimi

My dear friend Beth made it to the party- love this girl!!

Some other info about Harper at 12 months....

- 90% for height (30.5") and 25% for weight (19lbs. 9 oz.). I pray this means she's inherited Charles' tall and skinny genes (not jeans, but genes ;) Still working on putting some weight on her, but at least she's trending along her new curve now.

- She said her first word last week: Dada. My mom also figured out on Saturday that Harper can repeat back the sound a dog makes (woof woof)- I had no idea! It comes out like "ooo ooo", but intended to be a dog bark. Now anytime she sees a dog or hears them barking outside, she will do her version. So, to be clear, Harper's first words have been inspired by Dada..... then the dogs.... (she's obsessed with the cats, so I'm sure they'll be next)... I see where I stand in the pecking order ;)

- She loves to "walk" with you holding her hands. I figure we're still a few weeks away from true walking since she flops right down if you even hint at letting go of her hands, but she's getting close!

- She is still obsessed with books! If I ever lose track of her, there is a 90% chance that I will find her in her room pulling all her books off the bookshelf (every last book. every single time. ;) This child LOVES books!!

- We upgraded her to the big-girl bathtub this month which she absolutely loves!

- She is almost too long to ride rear-facing in her carseat anymore, so we are toying with the idea of turning her around in a month or two. The new recommendation is 2 years, but the doctor agreed yesterday that there's no way she can go that long (without having her legs over her head ;)

*insert a few more pics from the party* ;)

What a gorgeous day for a party!!

My sweet family :)

Hair envy.

Sweet Caroline (my friend Kyli's daughter) GORGEOUS.

Beautiful Kristen and Ava :)

And finally, Harper is so incredibly lucky to have this lady in her life:

Best aunt in the world!

My dear sister came in town for Harper's party- she was going to make it a surprise but decided to tell me at the last minute so we could make better plans for the weekend- I cried when she called :) We had an awesome weekend- she and my mom came over Saturday to help me get ready (or really to entertain a certain moving target so I could get some baking done :) She gave Harper her bath on Sunday after the party- they had a great time playing and practicing Harper's new words :) Thank you Aunt Mellie for being the best aunt Harper could possibly ask for! I love you more than words!!

She gave Harper the most beautiful handmade wall frame for her birthday (tears, again) and I will leave you with the sweet quote she chose to sum up Harper's first year.

"You are the poem I dreamed of writing, the masterpiece I longed to paint. You are the shining star I reached for in my ever hopeful quest for life fulfilled. Your are my child. Now with all things I am blessed."

I am blessed.

Snow Good!!

2011-02-06T21:57:00.001-06:00

Well we are THRILLED to be out of the house now that the snow and ice have melted! Charles has been practically forcing me out of the house for the past two days- I think he could see the crazy look in my eye that only cabin fever can produce ;)

Recently, Harper figured out a couple things:

.... the first is that she can reach the piano keys, so I am serenaded with sweet songs all day :

... the second is that she can CLIMB (insert the sound of my sigh here)...

I also found her with one knee up on the fireplace but I figured that was not a safe picture to take... I have my limits ;) I cannot help but think of the story my mom always told me about myself when I was 12 months old. To preface the story a bit, I was one of those children who walked at 9 months of age.... not 12-15 months like normal kiddos- nope, my poor mother was chasing me around practically from day one! One day she was watching me and my sister play outside from the kitchen window. We're playing nicely one minute.... and the next minute she looks outside to see little-ole-me standing at the TOP of the slide! After having a near-heart attack and rescuing me from the precipice, she watched as my father dismantled the slide, among other potential climbing disasters... sorry Mel, for depriving you of these fun toys when we were little ;)

Before I had a child it was hard for me to relate to any story about a child being a certain age. I always said "oh wow, mom, that sounds scary!" But now... the thought of finding my child standing at the top of a tall ANYTHING is terrifying... so thanks mom for not giving me away to the gypsies especially on days like that :) Love you!

And now... a few obligatory pics from our last Snow Day (what was it- Number 4??) It was a super fun week- kind of like another Christmas Break! I think we should have Snow Week every year... just maybe with no ice ;)

Cheesin it up!

Hey! Check out this white stuff!!

Checkin it all out

Daddy took me on a walk to the end of the street before my little nose got too red :)

Love this turkey!!

Have a lovely week!!

Issues...

2011-02-03T19:44:00.000-06:00

As you can see I'm having some issues with my blog appearance right now. After spending hours on a new background and header (watching a video tutorial of how to create a layered image in Fotoflexer and all), I go to upload the image on my blog.... and it's blurry- ugggh!!! After yelling at my computer and having my husband tell me to just "walk away", I finally found something on the Blogger help page that said since January this has been a common issue and has yet to be fixed. So (and here's my Good Samaritan/ public service announcement of the week for you fellow Bloggers): if you haven't replaced your header image lately, DON'T! People are saying that even if you upload the exact same image, it will come out blurry now. Soo, since I spent so much time creating it, I decided just to leave it. Blurry and all.

On another note, my dear friend Anna has decided to take up a little photography hobby and snapped these sweet pictures at our playdate on Sunday. She clearly has a gift and will be a fantastic photographer!! I am going to have her take some more pics of the fam once the weather gets nicer (or heck, I'd even take above freezing at this point!)

Happy Snow Week to everyone!!

Need some new friends??

2011-01-31T15:09:00.000-06:00

...make this dip for Superbowl Sunday and you will have them! This is my favorite easy dip recipe and is responsible for a good part of my holiday weight gain :)

Creamy Corn Dip
2 cans Mexicorn (drained)
16 oz. sour cream
1 cup mayo
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
3-4 green onions, chopped
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve with crackers or Fritos Scoops.

ENJOY :o)

Guest Post

2011-01-23T20:22:00.000-06:00

Seeing as I fell off the blogging bandwagon for a couple months in the fall, I think I forgot to mention a guest post I did on my good friend Heather's blog a couple months back. She has a feature called "Top 10" where she asks friends to snap pics of their favorite goodies around the house. It was such a fun experience to put some thought into what I love most around the house- I highly recommend it for everyone to do! Here is the link to my post:

http://lmsimple.blogspot.com/2010/11/top-10-by-jennie.html

What jogged my memory was my other good friend Lindsey's Top 10 post- here is the link as well as a link to her fabulous blog... these girls are SUCH good bloggers- they inspire me :)
Top 10: http://lmsimple.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-10-by-lindsey.html
Lindsey's blog: http://stayyoungactfoolishbehappy.blogspot.com/

Have a great week!!

11 Months of Harper

2011-01-20T16:18:00.003-06:00

Harper turned 11 months on January 14th... I can't BELIEVE she will be a year old next month! I have been busy planning her birthday party but not so much that I haven't enjoyed the great mood she's been in lately. After a rough patch of sleeping and overall fussiness the beginning of January, the past couple of weeks have been filled with smiles and lots of playtime :)

She recently figured out her walker which is pretty much all she wants to do now. Here are a few pics and video of her on the go!

Love my new toy! (thanks Aunt J and Leslie, Tom and Joey!!!)

I give this thing a THUMBS UP!

She gets stuck somewhere and gives me this look like hellooooo?? Can't you see I'm stuck here?!

And a little live-action on the walker:

This is another one of her favorite spots in the house- hanging onto the trestle under our kitchen table.

Cheesin' it up for the camera...

Love this girl!!

11-month picture in her chair

Hi!!

.... what many of the pictures looked like... I need a lens with more zoom so I can stand farther away ;)

Cheeser!!

Oh, you like to eat shoes too??

Another favorite pasttime this month is talking to the baby in the mirror. Here is a video of her talking to herself... she learns quickly not to try and "kiss" the baby- that baby bites back!! I didn't think she bumped that hard, but after I watched the video I realized she hit pretty hard- surprised we didn't have a busted lip!

Other things she loves this month:
- Carrying stuff around as she crawls: whatever the object of the day is she will hold it in one hand as she crawls, so you hear this little "clink, clink, clink" sounds as she crawls- makes her easy to keep up with! She randomly found a picture of me and Charles and carried it around last night and I thought "aww she loves mommy and daddy!", but let's be honest, she'd probably carry around a picture of Hitler- she's not real picky ;)
- Books! The child loves books! Especially ones with little flaps- they can entertain her for hours a day (unfortunately not consecutive hours *sigh*). She can even pick out a few animals if I say "show me the pig"...totally depends on her mood and interest, so it's like a 50-50 shot.
- Babbling: lots of chatter these days! I swear she's been SO close to saying "dada" and meaning it. Last night Charles and I are both pointing to him going "da-da" right after she'd been babbling dadadada for like 5 minutes.... we both get quiet hoping to hear our daughter utter her first words and out comes.... "na-na", which we NEVER hear! Oh well- maybe next time!
- Pooping in "her spot": the girl already likes a little privacy. Most mornings she will crawl up under one of our kitchen chairs and do her business. It happened a few times and I thought it was coincidence, but she's done it enough times now where I know it's her spot... who knew??

- Bathtime: loves bathtime!!

Things she does NOT love this month:
- Having her diaper changed: I have learned how to diaper a squirming child while on her tummy or even standing up... yes folks, it's not easy, but it can be done! On Friday when I picked her up from the church nursery, I was witness to the poor girl trying to change my little Houdini. She made the mistake of taking the wet diaper off first without having the reserve underneath it, so by the time I get over to help her diaper the earthworm... pee everywhere! Sooooo, what do you do when you have lunch plans to go to and your child is now covered in her own pee and you don't have a change of clothes? Wrap her back up in her pee-soaked clothes and tell your lunch friends that "you're not sure what they spilled on her in the nursery... probably just water!"
- Getting her face and hands wiped after mealtime: you'd think I was pulling her fingernails out, but yet, it has to be done.
- Food (still): we're working on getting her to eat more at a time (seeing as you're supposed to start decreasing the amount of formula they get at 12 months- yikes!), but we are a looong way from her eating enough to sustain herself. Stay tuned.

And to leave you with a smile... we moved her pink chair downstairs, and as you can tell, someone is reeeaally excited about it (and it's not Harper!) Enjoy :)

Let the child feed herself?!

2011-01-17T19:54:00.001-06:00

Lately Harper does not want me to feed her anything with a spoon- SHE wants to hold the spoon. Most days I'm not in the mood to clean up the resulting mess, so we forego foods requiring a spoon. Last week I read that at this age you should try letting them feed themself... I'm pretty sure whoever wrote this does not actually HAVE a child that they've tried this with, but whatev. Luckily a genius at Tommee Tippee invented the Explora bowls that suction cup to a flat surface so at least your child can't throw the entire bowl across the room.

Here's how our first feeding session went...

Let the fun begin!

Does this thing go in here??

Screw it- I'm WAY better with my hands!!

Now THAT's more like it!! (check out those chompers!!)

We ended up with yogurt everywhere but the dogs made quick work of that ;) Hopefully our next adventure with a utensil will result in more food actually getting in her mouth, but hey, we had a good time!

I was playing around with the different settings on my Hypstamatic app on my phone and snapped this pic. While I don't like the settings, it was the first pic where I thought Harper actually resembled some of my baby pics. There are SO many pics of me with my mouth wide open when I was little, so maybe that's the only resemblance, but I feel like there's a little more there now (probably wishful thinking ;)

Happy week to all of you!

Headstands, hats and haute couture!

2011-01-12T19:31:00.001-06:00

It has been nice and quiet this week... no house guests, no parties on the books... ahhhhhhh!!! It has been a LOOONG time since that was the case and I have to say I am enjoying some much needed quiet time my two favorite people! One of Harper's new favorite tricks is her "headstand" - or for those yogis out there, Downward-facing Dog. It cracks me up when she does it b/c she'll just sit there almost upside down until all the blood rushes to her head. She then either sits up with her bright red face or sometimes she turns it into a bear walk for a few steps- apparently it's fun times! A few pics of her new party trick:

Baby Yogi

Hi Mom!!

I'm so funny!!

She likes to practice her balancing skill over the leg of this chair... no idea??

On another note, what do you get when you have a good friend who has taken up knitting adorable baby hats?? Answer: an adorable baby hat!!!! My friend Lisa recently started knitting and has made good use of the cold snowy days lately. Check out Harper's new headgear and read more about Lisa's new hobby on her blog. I am having her make me a Sprinkles hat for Harper's bday :) I think she should sell them on Etsy, so stayed tuned ;)

And finally, I promised some pics of my sister's Christmas present to Harper: a new closet full of clothes! Make no mistake- this is only SOME of the clothes... a mere smattering of the suitcase (literally) that she brought with her from Tampa for the luckiest little niece ever! I wish they made some of these in my size :)

Her wardrobe would not be complete without an outfit from her rocker Uncle Cory, complete with a tiny toy guitar and sparkly tennie bops!!

Happy week to all of you!!

Out with a Bang!

2011-01-10T09:58:00.001-06:00

We had another year of fun at our New Year's Eve party this year! As Charles says- it's the one night of the year that he actually dances... having nothing to do with the number of beverages consumed, of course ;) Harper went to stay with my parents- who always have a blast when she comes to stay- love them!! So for me that meant a raucous good time, staying up far too late and pretending that my hangover would not be THAT bad the next day while chasing around a crawler. At least the first two were super right and super fun!!

We are blessed with awesome friends and were so excited to have some new guests this year who became instant friends! Thanks to everyone for coming... and thanks to those who were there in spirit :)

My sweet sweet friend Caroline who came with her fiance, Colby (they're getting married on April 9th)

Will and Charles christening the shot glasses (the first of many)...

Hannah & Lance and Laura & Mike joined the fun :)

Girl pic!

Let the dance party begin!!

Our dear friends Ray & Jana dancing the night away!

No comment....

Flashing our V's... a throw-back to our old Van Ness roots- what what!

Why does dancing seem so much more fun with glow sticks in hand?

My love!!

2010 was an amazing year for us, for obvious reasons, and I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store. I thank God for giving me all that He has, none of which I deserve.

May you be blessed beyond belief this year and make many wonderful memories!!

Slow Cooker Sexy-time

2011-01-03T22:43:00.001-06:00

Got your attention did I? Well, lately I've been in love with someone else.... his name is Crock Pot. I can't get enough of slow cooker recipes! My favorite is this chicken chili recipe, which I have cooked enough times now to tweak it and make it pretty stinkin good :) I am posting this, if for no other reason, than to have an electronic record since I have typed it up a few times and would rather be able to pull up anytime I want to make it... taking laziness to a whole 'nother level ;)

White Chicken Chili
2 15-oz. cans white cannelini beans, drained & rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cooked chicken (I like to use a de-boned rotisserie chicken)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium red peppers, chopped
1 4-oz. can green chiles
3.5 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours. ENJOY :)

10 Months of Harper

2011-01-01T22:05:00.000-06:00

*** Long Post Warning*** Sorry- lots going on and not enough blogging lately!

Harper turned 10 months in December- where does the time go?! By the time I get used to saying she's "10 months" it's almost time for her to turn 11 months- I cannot BELIEVE my daughter is about to turn one! Some days I can't even believe I have a daughter! When I think back to a year ago (or especially two years ago before I was pregnant) I realize how much life has changed. We used to go out to dinner whenever we pleased, I go WAY longer between pedicures and my days are now filled with walking around the house (picture a velociraptor) looking for choking hazards (which btw with two dogs who like to bring in nuts and random stuff from the backyard, it is a 24-hour job!) Anyhow, besides the things that have changed in that respect, I cannot put into words the joy we get from this little lady! She is the light of our lives and I feel very blessed that I get to stay home with her and watch the magic unfold on a daily basis. Here is what we've been up to lately and a few notes about some things I want to remember about Harper's tenth month.

First Christmas- WAY more interested in the paper than the actual gifts:

Christmas Day Brunch at the Gaylord:

Pretty Girl

My Christmas was complete because these two were in town: my beautiful sister Melanie and her new husband Cory. The amount of clothes Aunt Mellie gave Harper for Christmas is insane- I will post some pics of all her new garb :o)

Family Pic

Gami (Charles mother), Leslie (his sister), Tom and new baby Julia

Love my Pops!

Group pic :)

A Visit from Charles' Dad and Sherry:

Matching Winter White with Grandmother Sherry :)

Love my Grandfather Lee!

Some Harper info:
- This month she has taken crawling and pulling up to a new level. Nothing is off limits from the coffee table to chairs to the dogs- anything in her path gets manhandled!
- She babbles like crazy- "dada" is the most common sound now. Much to my dismay, I rarely hear "mama" anymore, but she throws it in every once in a while just to keep my hopes up ;) She started the dual-syllabel babbling where instead of just "dada" she'll say more like "ga-da" or "ba-da"- it's like she has her own little language... I can't wait until I can understand it :)
- She has brushed up on her clicking skills, too, so when combined with aforementioned babbling, she really sounds like a little African tribal baby!
- She is doing much better with solid food now that we've moved to table food. She is one cheese-eating baby! I have to limit how much I give her so she doesn't get constipated, but otherwise she'd eat her weight in cheese! Other favorites include rotisserie chicken, pasta, avocado and turkey dogs. We're still trying to work in more fruits and veggies- not a big fan of those. In fact, if she finds something she doesn't like she'll starting sweeping her arms really fast over her tray so that it falls on the floor and the dogs get it... she's a sneaky one!
- Sleeping has been a challenge this month so we have some sleep training on the books for the new year (arrgh- didn't we do this once already?!) We have a doctors appointment on the books for next week so once I make sure she doesn't have anything else going on, it's back to some good ole Ferberizing :s
- About the doctors appointment- Harper dropped down into the 25th percentile for weight at her last visit (it's only a concern because she was born in the 70th %tile), so they wanted to see her back for a weight check. I discovered that although she will take her bottles room temperature she will drink MORE if they are a little warm. So we have turned into a bottle-warming shop after all! I think she has put on weight, but I don't have a true baby scale, so I really don't know. What I DO know is that I have put on plenty of weight for the both of us over the holidays, but hopefully she has too :)
- She is such a little ham and we have so much fun just watching her in the evenings as she crawls around and talks to things. I can't wait to see what the next month has in store!!

Happy New Year- may each of you have a wonderful year full of blessings, fun and new memories with family and friends!

Shower for Sarah!

2010-12-19T21:59:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday a few bridesmaids hosted a shower for our beautiful friend Sarah at our house. We had about 20 ladies in attendance and had a wonderful time sipping on champagne punch and munching on Sunday goodies! Here are some pics of the soiree!

The gorgeous bride with her beau: Sarah and Tor

The Tablescape...

Picture ornaments made from pictures of Sarah and Tor...

The Sign-in table...

A&M girls... just missing Sarah- doh!!!

The beautiful bride opening her goodies!!

The precious aprons Sarah had monogrammed for the hostesses... Anthropologie, of course!

Sarah with some of her real-estate girls :)

It is so easy to host a shower for such a wonderful, beautiful and amazing friend as Sarah. It was a true pleasure and I SO look forward to the Big Day for these two on January 22nd... cheerio!!

9 Months!

2010-12-15T08:59:00.000-06:00

Wow- I am almost a month out since my last post- sheesh, where does the time go?! We have been super busy these days- not entirely sure with what, but we travelled to Natchez for Thanksgiving and have some entertaining to do in the next few weeks, so I think that has been preoccupying my mind lately!

Harper turned 9 months old on November 14th and is ridiculously fun these days! She finally hit the big milestone of crawling and I'm not sure why I was anxious for her to take this step.... it changes EVERYTHING! I suddenly feel like my ENTIRE house is a death trap. Not just the outlets and obvious death traps, but things like our shower door which is one of those frameless glass doors that swings both ways: definite finger amputator! I feel like everytime I look around I see some new potential cause of baby injury! But besides the added anxiety, Harper is much happier to be able to explore her surroundings and is a little less fussy. The animals are sure to stay out of arms reach now which is harder now that she's a moving target :)
This is of Harper during her new favorite activity: bathtime. Once she learned how to splash, Lord help us all!

I have officially been lapped by a month now, but not to worry- Harper still turned 10 months old yesterday even if my blog says otherwise. Apparently my blog does not determine how old my child is ;) 10 month post to come soon, I promise!

I tried to upload a couple other videos- one of her crawling for the second time ever, but I'm having some issues, so I'll try to upload more later today.

I hope you're all having a wonderful holidays season with family and friends! Xoxo!!

Halloween Fun!

2010-11-07T20:44:00.000-06:00

Soooo I definitely had more fun dressing up Harper for Halloween than she did! In fact, I got to do it three times, much to her dismay ;) She didn't really mind the costume, but would've been just fine in her "house clothes" which usually consist of a white onesie and a pair of colored pants- it's a very exciting wardrobe when we're at home!

The first outing was to my old job at Concentra. I got to see lots of people I used to work with which was great. I really loved the people I worked with so it was great to see some friendly faces! The second dress-up opportunity was on actual Halloween- we had some friends over to watch the Ranger game including our friends Keli and Travis whose son Nolan is three days older than Harper. They hadn't seen each other in quite a while but caught up very quickly! We even got creative with the Pack'N'Play and put Nolan down in another room so Kel and Trav could stay and finish the game... awesome compromise for parents with kiddos- babies go night night and parents keep on rockin' :)

The third and final Dorothy-dress up was the day after Halloween. Harper was a little out of sorts on Halloween, and when it came time for the photo shoot with Nolan in their costumes she was NOT having it. It ended up in a red-faced screaming episode, which I tried to get a picture of, but then felt like I was unfairly torturing my screaming child :s Since I didn't get any good pics of her on either outing, I decided to dress her up yet again on Monday to snap a couple pics on the front porch. Afterwards we sat out back and played in the grass and even got a pic with Dixie, our over-sized, female version of Toto :)

Caroline and Harper

Mallivan and Harper

The Wellness Boys, Mitch and Isaac

Harps and Nolan, playing pre-costume

Cutie-pies!!

Cutest bumble bee ever!!

Keli, Nolan, Harper and me

Charles and twinkle toes...

A few pics from the day after...

Harper is clearly disturbed by the size of her Toto... "there's no way I can get this thing in my basket!!"

Harper's 8-month Post

2010-11-01T18:08:00.000-05:00

Harper turned 8 months old on October 14th (late again, I know- pretty soon I'm going to get lapped by the next month!) We were busy last month- between house stuff, a couple trips and Halloween, I am happy to be home!

I flew out to Tampa for my sister's birthday on October 16th. Mel's husband, Cory, and I worked very hard to make it a surprise.... however my sweet, sweet Grammer called Mel that morning to wish her a happy birthday and proceeded to ask her "when does Jennie get it?!" Luckily Mel figured out pretty quickly what was going on and, so as not to make Grammer feel bad, quickly changed the subject. We had a great time- although it was short- we went out to a WONDERFUL Indian restaurant for dinner and squeezed in some shopping before I left on Sunday. I'm so excited that they're coming in town for Christmas- can't wait to spend some more time together!!

Our other trip was to Asheville, NC to visit Charles' brother David, his sweet wife Carol and their beautiful daughter Marina. Visiting a place like Asheville makes me wish I either lived somewhere other than Dallas or had enough money to "summer" elsewhere... we can all dream right?! Their beautiful weather, funky little downtown and laidback people make it an awesome place to visit. Plus visiting during the fall proves that trees can actually be colors other than green and brown (which is all we get in Texas- green in the summer straight to bare brown trees in the winter). It was stunningly beautiful with all of the fall colors! Many of the landscape pics below are from what's called the Blue Ridge Parkway- a beautiful scenic drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains... just breathtaking!!

Here are some pics from our trip...

Blue Ridge Parkway

Goin for a ride!

Hanging out at our cabin on the river

Being silly with Aunt Carol and Jake :)

Our only pic with all three of us- I hadn't showered and Charles looks like a bushman... awesome!

Our sweet little river cabin that Charles found- I could've sat out here ALL day- and did much of the time!

The Biltmore Estate- very well known house built by the Vanderbilts around 1900- UHmazing!

Harper was not that entertained by the Biltmore house ;)

Hanging out with Uncle David!

Love this pic with Uncle David & Aunt Carol!

The whole crew!

Some 8-month info for Harper (for those who care about baby stats)- for those who don't feel free to stop reading now :)

- I have not taken Harper's official stats this month, but I can assure that she is LONG! I have to put her in 12-month pants or else they look like capris :)
- She is still going nowhere fast when it comes to crawling- she spins around on her tummy to get to toys she can reach. If something is out of her reach she will squirm and reach for it but ultimately decide that something within reach will do just fine. We have not even started the baby-proofing process so I'm just fine with her taking her sweet time :)
- She is still not digging baby food HOWEVER we have started to give her little tiny bits of table food and she seems to like that much better! For some reason I find it fascinating to see her eat regular food- she's like a tiny person eating big people food! You go so many months feeding them milk or mushy stuff- you forget that someday they will be a big person and eat the same stuff we eat. Pretty soon I'll be trying to convince her that there ARE other things to eat besides hot dogs and mac & cheese.
- She stayed another night with Mimi & Pops when I visited Mel in Tampa, and they had a ball as usual!
- She recently introduce the "ma" sound into her babbling (so far it's been all "ba" or vowel sounds). Although I know the sound "mama" has absolutely zero meaning to her right now, it already melts my heart to think of what it will sound like when she says it for real...*sigh*!

As always we have more fun with her each month than the last- I can't believe we're only a few months away from her 1st birthday- crazy!

Hope you're all doing well!

Love,

It's Video Time!!!

2010-10-23T21:52:00.006-05:00

Well seeing as my flight to Asheville got cancelled tonight (details to come), I thought I'd be productive and upload some videos from the past few weeks (it was one of those to-dos that didn't get done before I left for my trip). I had trouble uploading to Blogger, so I put them on YouTube. You'll have to click back to my blog after viewing each one, but otherwise, enjoy!!

The first one is of my good friend Megan's almost-three-year-old son, Parker. Maybe it's because my child doesn't talk or sing yet, but I thought this rendition of the ABC's was just precious! Harper is upstairs taking a nap and wakes up right when he starts to sing, which he was very concerned about. He's going to be such a good big brother to Baby Roger, due in a few weeks! And no, they're not naming him Roger ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxMSqceKRsM

This is Harper and her boyfriend Will (my good friend Lisa's baby). Will is one of the babies born 3 days before her- they clearly love each other even though the seem to have their first lovers' quarrel on tape...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yuPD6Mxx0w

This is of my dad doing his "Donald Duck" voice, which she thought was just great! There were lots of giggles prior to this video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wJ5xq_M1ms

My mom (who is a very good toy-picker-outer) got Harper this Bouncing Baby that giggles and wiggles when you press the button. We all thought it was kind of creepy, but clearly Harper thinks there should be more Bouncing Baby-type toys in the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFpmeZ_Eamo

And finally, a not-so-exciting but yet very normal peek into what we do everyday... bounce, babble and hang out :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylTyLzUFhH0

Alright, Aunt Mellie, if that doesn't do it for videos, I don't know what will ;) Love you!

Jen

7 Months and counting...

2010-10-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

Harper turned 7 months on September 14th and is more fun than ever! She is reaching, grabbing, sitting up, babbling and is even developing a little "spiciness" as her dad calls it ;) She fights me when I put her in her carseat and when I change her diaper and has a pretty strong idea of what she wants now. What she wants is often not what I think she wants, so we play this fun game of what-does-Harper-want-now until we find the solution :) Sometimes it takes a while but we eventually get there!

She is still a bit lazy in the transportation department- she rolls around and can fully support her weight when standing and holding onto the couch but has no desire to crawl yet. I'm actually OK with it because I can still put her in one spot and come back to find her in the very. same. spot. Can't imagine when I turn around and she's gone to the other room! I will enjoy my stationary-baby days for now because I know they are numbered :)

We are doing some remodeling at our house including the bathroom right next to Harper's room. I didn't want her to develop some crazy disease from the dust and fumes, so I moved her upstairs while the work is being done. As always, she is a trooper with change and has not had any trouble sleeping in another place. I have actually loved her being upstairs (which shocked my husband since I supposedly hate stairs and want a one-story house)... however, having her upstairs when she's sleeping has made me realize how much I tiptoe around the house normally. Her nursery is right next to our bedroom and the front door so (much to my dismay) I have become accustomed to alterring normal activity anytime she's sleeping. I also give Charles the stank-eye anytime he forgets she's sleeping and shuts our bedroom door loudly. I don't think I'd take the bold step of moving her upstairs permanently but it has made me appreciate why people have second stories and throw all the kids up there :)

Here are some pics from this month- I love this child more than I thought possible. She (even with her new spiciness) is the light of my life and the cheese to my macaroni! As crazy as it sounds I truly look forward to waking up with her each morning (even though it's early) to see what new things she's going to do today. We have so much fun each and every day with her and can't wait for more months to come :)

7 Month Picture in her chair

Excited about the pics!

Her provocative pose (I'll have a talk with her later)

Pallin' around with daddy in the backpack

At Mimi & Pops house... it's too bad they don't have any toys for her!

Bathtime at Mimi and Pops'

Her "official" christening portrait that we got back from Charis

Baby Faith

2010-09-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

We got some devastating news today- one of my Aunt Nanci's foster babies passed away today. Her name was Faith and today was her second birthday. She drowned in the family pool while a babysitter was keeping her.

My aunt has had many foster babies (I have yet to do a post on her because I can't seem to sum her up in words- she's so wonderful), but Faith came to her right around the time that we got the sad news that my grandmother had Stage 4 lung cancer. As my grandmother got sick, Faith was the bright spot not only for my Mamaw but for all of us- especially my mom who went to stay with my grandmother every other weekend for months. We all grew extremely attached to Faith... you couldn't help but love her- she was the sweetest, most good-natured baby and had the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen.

Aunt Nanci had her for longer than most of her babies. Most babies are with her for a few months until plans are finalized with the adoptive family. In Faith's case her biological mother was fighting for custody and going to rehab (I think), so the court proceedings were very lengthy and she ended up with her for about a year. You can imagine how close you grow to a baby during their first year of life :) About a year ago, Faith was adopted to the same couple who adopted her biological sister two years prior. It was a match made in heaven and we were all so excited that she would be with her sister!

Today we found out that while a 16-year-old babysitter was watching the girls, a door was left open and Faith fell in the pool. While I sit here and struggle with why God lets things like this happen to such young innocent children, I know He has a reason. My mom and aunt think her purpose here on earth was to bring joy to my Mamaw while she was sick and that He's called her back now to be with Mamaw in heaven. It still breaks my heart for the parents who are without their little baby tonight, and also for the babysitter who will undoubtedly be haunted by this for the rest of her life. Can't imagine- absolutely can't imagine.

I found this poem online tonight and thought it is exactly what Faith would say if she could:

Angel In Heaven
I'm An Angel Here In Heaven
There Sits A Halo On My Head
I Have These Pretty Wings
That I Can Now Spread
I'm Dressed In A Pretty Robe
Although It Doesn't Touch The Ground
I Move Quiet And Gracefully
And I Never Make A Sound
I Wish That You Could See Me
In My New Home Up Above
So Close Your Eyes And See Me Now
How Much I'm Filled With Love

Hold your babies close tonight and please pray for my family as we are all very saddened by Faith's passing. Moreso, please pray for her family and the babysitter as they deal with this tragedy.

I can only rejoice in the fact that Faith has her wings tonight and is flying with the angels **0**

My dad and Faith

Faith very interested in Orange Kitty!

Happy baby!

Little angel...

My mom, Aunt Nanci, me and Faith

Over the hill... what hill?!

2010-09-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's right, the hubs is forty! Saying that out loud cracks me up- he SO does not seem 40 to me, but according to his birth certificate, this is the truth. For his bday we found this awesome ranch house on VRBO and it did not disappoint! You see, lately my husband has a crush on large tracts of land... he reeeally wants himself some land! He wants to have a place we can take the kids to play on the weekends and during summers- somewhere they can get out of the city and get dirty and roam around. I figure until that dream comes true we will have to rent this house once a year so he can pretend :)

The place is called Wildwood Ranch and it was outside of Sherman near Lake Texoma. They had an awesome saltwater pool, walking trails, stocked fishing ponds, bikes, a shooting range, a really nice outdoor pavilion and a fire pit which we were surprisingly able to use since the weather over Labor Day was nice and mild. It was pretty much outdoor playland! We had a ball :)

Harper was with us the first two nights and then I drove her back to Dallas and my parents kept her for the first time for the last two nights... thank you Mimi and Pops! She did great at their house, so I'm hoping they'll take us up on another 'go round! They continue to be absolutely infatuated with her which could not make me happier! She is one lucky little girl :)

Here are some pics from the weekend!

My little cherub...

Harps and Daddy

Curiosity personified...

The awesome outdoor pavilion

Two happy dogs (they came for the first two days and probably had more fun than us!)

Belle gettin her swim on

Birthday night!

The Birthday Boy

Chillin around the fire

Our good friends Ray & Jana

... and other good friends Will & Ashley :)

Happy 40th to the best husband, friend and father in the world... I love you CJ!!!

A half-year of Harper

2010-08-30T22:46:00.001-05:00

I am so late on posting for Harper's 6-month b-day, but better late than never! I'm about two weeks behind on life right now, so this post is right in line ;)

I took Harper for her 6-month checkup today and she is still a big girl! She is in the 94th percentile for height and 55th percentile for weight. She is right on target with all of her developmental milestones and the doc thinks she is close to sprouting a tooth!

She is becoming such a ham- she gurgles and blows spit bubbles just to be silly and is finally starting to become ticklish so I can get a few more giggles now by tickling her little sides and feet :)

We've started baby food, which she is not a big fan of so far. Everyone says to be patient and keep trying, but I can't help but dread that I have a picky eater on my hands who will only eat macaroni and cheese! I've tasted a few of them, and I can't say that I blame her for the *rancid sour face*.... blech!! Peas are tolerable when they're whole (with a little salt and pepper and spray butter) but pureed in a tiny little jar... again, I don't blame her...

She has taken on a keen interest in the animals... lord help them all! While they're all still fairly curious about her, I think that will end as soon as she starts removing clumps of their fur. Remarkably, I think Belle will still tolerate it. I'm not sure you could do a thing to that dog to upset her- such a sweetheart! LOVES that baby :)

She is doing so good with sitting with support and with her head control- Charles even bought one of those backpack carrier things to take her on some hikes on a couple trips we have coming up. He sported her all around REI the other night and got quite a few laughs! He decided to just wear her out of the store and asked the checker if the baby comes free with the pack- ha! The checker didn't think we were as funny as we did, but that's ok :) Stay tuned for pics after this weekend- we're headed to a ranch house for Charles 40th bday!!

I cannot express the joy I get from this little girl. A sweet smile from her can instantly change my mood and seeing her with Charles melts my heart each and every day. I thank God for sending us this precious gift and can't wait for many more memories to come!

Thank you ostriches!

Sporting her first bow without a headband....

Big enough??

Her Monthly Chair pic....

Love,

Giggles never get old!

2010-08-26T20:42:00.000-05:00

Here's a short (but sweet) video of some giggles this week. To explain the situation- Charles and I are doing P90X, a workout program, and there's a move where you make your arms in an X. I started doing this to Harper in the Baby Bjorn, and apparently it was a hit! Of course our camera battery ran out midstream, but the giggles kept on coming ;)

Enjoy!

Blessed Baby

2010-08-25T20:28:00.000-05:00

It has been FOREVER since I've posted! For anyone still checking my blog- hello there!! We have been busy this month between Harper's christening in Natchez and my annual girls lakehouse trip last weekend.... good times all around!

Harper was christened on August 15th, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church in Natchez, MS- in the same church where Charles was christened. First Presbyterian Church dates back to 1817 and is a beautiful old church with tons of history and character. I love the auditorium- it is a gorgeous combination of rich dark wood against crisp white- no color- just dark wood and white- love it! There is a huge organ on the 2nd story towering above the congregation as well as beautiful stained glass windows. You don't find this kind of character in new buildings these days!

Harper was a dream during her christening! I was worried that the water might freak her out (the minister warned us ahead of time that she is very generous with the water!), but she wasn't phased at all- only a little confused about why there were so many people around for bathtime?? The minister walked her around the congregation and she was mesmerized by all the lights and the big organ- it was too cute!

Having her christened was a wonderful reminder of the purpose of christening (while a fun time to celebrate, obviously the meaning is much deeper). It is not only to bless the child as they go through life but also a time for the parents to reaffirm their baptismal vows and to commit to bringing up the child in the light of Christ. Charles and I hope to bring Harper up like we were raised- going to church regularly and always knowing that God has a plan for our lives and we can look to Him daily for inspiration and guidance. We hope our little one chooses to walk with Christ all her life!

Here is one of the portraits we had made in her gown- we are still waiting on the official version where they do "artwork" to it so she'll look like a little doll :)

After church, Charles' dad and Sherry hosted a fabulous luncheon at Dunleith where her Grandfather Lee (Charles' dad) led everyone in a version of Dolly Parton's "On the Wings of a Dove". He passed out lyrics to the crowd and everything- it was hilarious! For any of you who came to our wedding you know about his hankering for a good public singing session :)

Here are some other pics from the weekend- we had a great time hanging out with Lee & Sherry as well as Charles' oldest brother, Howard and his wife Sally, and his sister, Liza who drove in from Baton Rouge with her sons Macon and Beau. Natchez always knows how to show us a good time!

Swingin'

Getting my greens for the day!

Love my daddy!

Meeting Aunt Liza for the first time

Chillin with Uncle Howard

Freshly christened :)

Family pic at Dunleith

Meeting the donkeys- Charles dad has a group of donkeys that live on their land :)

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Creative Juices

2010-08-09T22:40:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to do a quick wish list of some things I have a crush on lately. It has been two and a half years that we've been in our house now and for the most part (with the exception of the nursery) I haven't changed much about our decor, so I'm getting a little bored. I just found out today that my former job would like me to do some contract work for them over the next few months, so I am going to try and swing it with the hubby that I get to use my earnings towards house stuff. While not likely... I can dream, right?!

I would like the "feel" of my house to be comfy, casual and beachy. I want to paint ALL my furniture white and weather it. Every last piece. I would love taller ceilings that I could panel with whitewashed boards. A few examples:

For my formal living room (that we never use and has the "dog" couch, yes the pretty damask one that does NOT look like a dog couch...)- I would love to have a plain white slipcovered Quatrine couch. One that I can change out the throw pillows to have a different look when I get bored. This one's from Ikea for $399... waahhh? That may be a do-er especially since it's not a frequented room- score!

I would love to pair it with a braided jute rug, and iron coffee table with a glass top and a pair of white skirted chairs...

....with these throw pillows (Laura Ashley Emperor fabric):

A couple years ago I saw a picture in a magazine of a kitchen and I was instantly OBSESSED with it. I tore it out and kept up with it for months, but it got lost in the shuffle at some point. I now have an Idea Book where I keep torn-out pages of magazines I love. I was browsing through a recent edition of Flea Market Style and was THRILLED to see a reprint of the same exact kitchen. This time I scanned it in... just in case the house burns down... I will now have this e-copy of my dream kitchen :)

Here are some other fun chairs that I love and I could totally find a home for...

Anthropologie:

Anthropologie, again...

Country Living feature...

Ok, hopefully this e-designing will somehow satisy my fix to redecorate because let me tell you how long the list of home improvements is at the Jones household... and I think this is on the very bottom ;)

Happy week to everyone!!

Travel Tips

2010-07-30T12:29:00.000-05:00

Now that we are all settled in from our trip, I would be remiss if I didn't share some of my hard-earned travel tips for travelling with an infant. I think international travel (or ANY flight for that matter) should come with a badge- like back in the days of Girls Scouts- a real badge that you can proudly show that you successfully completed the trip.

Tip #1: Always have a change of clothes for baby in case of a blowout.
This is pretty much a no-brainer at all times, but is especially important when travelling. Just in case your baby has pooped all over herself in her stroller, you will need a change of clothes. Do not attempt to salvage the poopy clothes- by the time you try to smuggle the poop-gear home in your diaper bag the stains will already be set in and near impossible to get out anyways. Toss 'em!

Tip #2: Wear black.
In case you pick up said poopy baby and sit her on your lap for 15 minutes before you realize she's covered in poo, you may need a wardrobe change too. Since it is not very feasible to pack your own change of clothes, the next best thing is to make sure you're wearing black. At least YOU will be the only one to know you are walking around with a huge poop stain on your lap.

Tip #3: Have a resourceful husband
Your resourceful travel partner will come in handy to take the poopy stroller to the bathroom and bum some industrial-strength cleaner from the janitorial crew to sanitize the baby buggy. Genius!

some additional travel tips unrelated to Tips 1-3:

Tip #4: Time the giggles
Make the baby giggle on the plane while you are waiting to take off. This will endear her to those within earshot in case she gets fussy later. Do not be offended if no one wants to speak to you or make eye contact with you when you roll in with a baby. They are thinking "Great, I'm near the baby!" and picturing a long flight of screaming baby. But the giggles will give you some quiet deposits for later in case she gets fussy. Flight attendants LOVE babies- use this to your advantage.

Tip #5: Pinch the Baby (only to be used in the most dire of situations)

This one is like a trump card- keep it in your back pocket and only use it if necessary. No one wants to be around a screaming baby, so if you are ever in a situation where it would work to your advantage to have a screaming baby in your hands, you can attempt to create the situation. An example would be when presenting to the gate agent to see if you could get bumped up to an earlier flight (since your current flight has been delayed and will not get in until 1:30am). The gate agent would rather get you out of his sight as quickly as possible than have to spend the next three hours near your screaming child while you wait for the next flight. Luckily we did not have to use this tactic... plus, Harper, mommy and daddy would never ever pinch you........ unless it was for a really, reeeeally good reason :)

I hope these hypothetical travel tips come in handy for those of you attempting to travel with babies! Happy trails!!

Mel's Fairytale Wedding

2010-07-23T22:01:00.001-05:00

Well, we did it! We survived international travel with a child! I can't tell you how much stressing I did over the trip the 2 weeks before we left. I had visions of a 4-hour plane ride with a screaming baby and all the passengers giving us scornful looks (not that I would blame them). LUCKILY Harper did great on both plane rides and overall with the whole travel situation... whew! We had a 14-hour travel day to get there, which she did great with, but believing we tempted fate with no major meltdowns the first time, we decided to stay an extra night and split up our travel into two days on the way home. MUCH better!

Harper's First Plane Trip

The Swagger Wagon- while I pray I never own a mini-van this thing was pretty freakin sweet!

To say my sister, Melanie's wedding was beautiful would be a huge understatement. Not only was the city she chose (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) an absolutely beautiful city sitting on a gorgeous harbor with mountain views and amazing weather, but the venue where she got married, Hatley Castle, was the perfect setting for her magical day. If anyone has seen the X-Men movies, this castle was used for the exterior shots of Xavier's School for the gifted. It had beautiful grounds and a gorgeous view of the water.

Mel and her Prince Charming, Cory, in front of their castle:

More of the photographer's pics

Unfortunately Harper's one and only meltdown came the night of the wedding. The lack of sleep and being in a time zone that made her sleepy reeeally early finally caught up with her. Unfortunately we missed out on getting very many pics that day (*sigh* since she had on a really cute dress that Aunt Mellie bought her before she was born and an adorable headband that I scoured Etsy for :), but babies don't seem to care about such matters- only sleep and food- all else pales in comparison. Luckily my sweet, sweet (did I say sweet?) husband took her back to the hotel early and missed the festivities so she could get some sweet slumber. I stayed and danced the night away (along with a few glasses of wine). It was really fun to cut lose for the first time since she was born! The only thing better would've been to have Charles and Harper there, but I made do flying solo. At one point my mom, after watching us all on the dance floor, leaned over to my dad and said "I believe all three of our children are drunk."

Here are some of the pics from the trip and a link at the bottom to our Snapfish album with even more :)

Ready to take on Victoria!

A gorgeous day at Butchart Gardens

The Sunken Garden at Butchart

High Tea at The Empress

Gettin some love from Aunt Nana

Gorgeous view from the rehearsal dinner

On the ferry ride back to the US

Sweet kisses from daddy

Pike Street Market in Seattle (where they throw the fish)-I SO wish I lived in Seattle- check out that produce!

Lunch in Seattle

Click here to see all our pics from the trip

Mel and Cory, congrats to both of you on a beautiful wedding and an even more beautiful life together! You are both amazing people and are more in love than most people ever hope to be in their lifetime. I love you both and can't wait to spend many happy years together as a family! ("family"- implying that Harper needs a cousin STAT ;) Love you!!!

Summer Lovin'

2010-07-02T15:53:00.002-05:00

Wow- can you believe it is July already?! I'm not sure where the summer is going but we are having fun nonetheless!

This week has been a nightmare dealing with insurance drama- Harper was born with a tiny heart murmur called a Ventricular Septal Defect or VSD (in fact, ALL babies are born with a VSD, but most close up within hours of birth). Hers stayed open a little longer but was expected to close up by 3 months. I know anything with the heart sounds serious, but it really wasn't. Again, all babies have it- hers just took a little longer to close. Sure enough, as expected it closed and was not present at all by 2 months. Well at 4 months when we applied for new insurance they declined her because of it. Part of me thinks it's due to the new health care reform: insurance companies cannot pre-exist as many things as they used to so instead they are denying coverage altogether. The good news is that come September they will not be able to pre-exist OR deny coverage to children. When I told her cardiologist that they denied coverage because of this he laughed because of ridiculous it was- especially since it's completely gone and not expected to return or need follow-up of any sort. Bad news is we had to pay for a $500 visit to the cardiologist to PROVE that it's gone!

Luckily we're still within my election period for COBRA from my old job, so we're good, but I never thought I'd spend hours on the phone between the insurance company, doctors, Presbyterian hospital, etc over something that is such a non-issue. Just glad we're (hopefully) done with all of it! Those of you on FB already know about all that drama- I couldn't help myself but to publicly vent and thank Blue Cross for being a royal pain in the A :)

The same day she was denied coverage my dear friend Lindsey (thank goodness) asked me whether or not we'd need a passport for Harper to go to Canada for my sister's wedding (in two weeks). Somehow neither Charles or I had thought about this- surprising since we travel so much- but it had completely slipped our minds. Sure enough infants DO need passports and have to have a picture on it (which cracked us up- I mean, how long does a 4 month old look the same as their picture... maybe a week?!... but whatever!) We were making plans to go to the regional passport office this week where you can pay them a nice sum to expedite your passport if you are within 14 days of travel. LUCKILY my internet-scouring husband looked up that if you are entering the country by boat or car (we are flying to Seattle and taking a ferry over to Canada), you only need a birth certificate. Great news, right?! Wrong... I ordered Harper's birth certificate about 4 weeks ago and did not do any expedited delivery since it had not occurred to me that I would need it for any reason (normaly delivery time is 6-8 weeks). God was in a good mood that day b/c when I called the State of Texas they had JUST sent her birth certificate and we got it on Wednesday... WHEW!!! We are all ready to go to Canad-i-a fully insured and birth certified!!!

Here is a fun little something- my beloved Aunt Nanci kept me when I was 2 months old and had these little pictures done of me. She saved the outfit for the past 28 years and recently gave it to me along with this picture. I got a little teary-eyed (which is pretty much the norm these days since Harper was born- it does not take much in the sentimental category to start the waterworks). Anyhow, I did my best to replicate this picture with Harper in the same little outfit I had on :) And yes these pictures are proof that my daughter looks absolutely NOTHING like me- I know! 100% Charles Jones ;)

Me @ 3 months

Harper @ 3 months

And finally, my favorite thing in the world... baby giggles! These are brought to us by Mimi during her weekly visit last weekend.... ENJOY :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!!!

4 Month Stats

2010-06-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been 4 months with our little sweet pea! She's been such a joy and gets more fun by the day! Here are her stats and a few recent pics:

Length: 25.5" (75-90th percentile)
Weight: 14.5lbs (50-75th percentile)

Happy Baby Yoga Pose

Giggle Therapy

2010-06-13T22:15:00.005-05:00

I'm convinced there should be a form of therapy involving listening to baby giggles... how could it not put you in a better mood and make you smile! Here is our first video of good giggles from Harper- we were watching an episode of Lost that had the oldies song "Downtown" in it and apparently my singing was reeeeally funny because this is the reaction I got...

On that note, here is one of my all-time favorite videos from YouTube. If I had quadruplets they better be this stinkin cute or else I'd be in the loony bin!

Harper is 4 months old today... I'll post later this week with her stats and a few updates :)

Have a great week!

Jennie

Rollin' with the Hommies

2010-06-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

Houston, we have a roll over! Last week Harper decided it was finally time to roll over. She was kind of propped up on her elbows, so hopefully that still counts :)
She is getting louder by the day- she thinks it's pretty cool to screech as loud as she can. I'll post another video later this week of her crazy noises.

Here are a few pics from her first dip in the pool on Memorial Day. The water was a little chilly but all in all I'd say it was a success!

Videos for Aunt Mellie!

2010-06-02T13:56:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple videos from the past few weeks. Aunt Mellie requests more videos from Tampa, so more videos it is!

Hope everyone is having a good week!!

The All-occaision Ingredient

2010-05-25T20:24:00.002-05:00

Most of you have probably bought Fischer and Wieser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle sauce before, but I came across another one of their sauces and I just can't get enough of it! It's called Charred Pineapple Bourbon sauce. You can find it at Tom Thumb or any other store that sells the brand.

I've served it with cheese and crackers as an appetizer, sauteed broccoli in it, and topped chicken and pork with it... the website says you can even try it on ice cream, pancakes, sweet potatoes- even brushed on top of pecan pie. It's pretty much good straight out of the bottle!

Here's a quick and easy recipe for Pork Tenderloin Medallions- just top with this yummy stuff and you'll impress anyone lucky enough to taste it :)

Pork Tenderloin Medallions

Cut Pork Tenderloin into 1/4" to 1/2" thick slices depending on how you like it

* Whole Foods will cut the meat for you and marinate it if you just ask- yes please!!

Marinate for 3-4 hours (if desired)

On medium-high heat, sear medallions 1 minute on each side

Turn heat down to medium and continue to cook 6-8 more minutes or until no longer pink in the middle

Top with the yummy stuff and enjoy!

Oh the Times They Are a-Changin'...

2010-05-23T17:21:00.001-05:00

This weekend Charles and I were craving a yummy dinner somewhere especially since we don't go out to eat quite as much these days. Ever since Harper turned 3 months she has become a remarkably easy baby and loves to be out and about at places like parties and restaurants with lots of background noise. So we decide we were going to attempt to go out to a nice dinner with baby in tow. We planned on going early in the event she did get fussy we would disturb as few patrons as possible, at which time one of us would've taken her outside. We were feeling pretty hip- going out to dinner to even though we have a 3 month old- wondering why more people don't try it.

So Charles decided to call and get us reservations in case they were busy.... at which time the manager informed him that (play record screeching noise)... they don't allow children under 5! I didn't even know restaurants could do that. I mean- I get it- no one wants to sit near loud unruly children, but to actually say that ALL children under 5 are not allowed- I mean what if we showed up without calling- would they really turn us away? I don't want to out them (Canary Cafe in Addison) or to say we won't go back- their pan crusted catfish is THAT good, but I guess I was a little disappointed in their rule and in the fact that our life has officially changed when it comes to dining out- at least for a few years anyway.

Our Plan B was the Woodlands Grill who told us they allow "ruly" children but also did not seem too excited about our visit, so rather than face public scorn, we ended up at our local hole-in-the-wall italian joint, Roma's, where we enjoyed FANTASTIC food, our own bottle of wine (they're BYOB) and hopped out with a whopping 27-dollar tab. And for the record- Harper was a perfect angel and didn't make a peep... take that Canary Cafe ;)

Here's to life with a baby- loving every minute even without fancy dinners!

The second appearance of "the snarl" in a picture- ha!

Creative Packaging

2010-05-22T18:21:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to do a quick post about a fun magazine tip I followed. It said to package gifts in fun containers for that added wow factor- buckets, baskets, boxes, things you may have around the house. So, as I was about to put these goodies in a run-of-the-mill gift bag, I remembered this fun wooden toolbox I found at an antique store- painted it to use in the nursery for a diaper caddy... but come on, how long would those diapers last- half a day....maybe?! Anyhow, I put all the baby goodies in the toolbox and presto- fun little gift packaging that got quite a few compliments at the shower :)

Here's how it turned out....

Check out this precious monkey hooded towel!

Mustela bath products- baby yumminess!!

Hope you're having a good weekend!
Jennie