Water Baby

As promised, here are a few pictures of our swimming pool adventures. Harper did NOT like the pool at first, even with me in the pool with her. She does not handle anything out of the norm very well! But after me playing with some bath toys and making a few splashes, she was enjoying herself! It was a great day to sit in the pool! The pool itself is pretty big, well for her anyway! I bought it last year when it was 75 % off, but I'm thinking that I will probably box it up for a few more years and just buy a plastic baby pool. Or I've seen some really cute blow up baby pools with toys attached. We'll see I guess....

"Hi Mom!"

" It's like I'm taking a BIG bath!"

7 Quick Takes

1. Summer school is in session! My CNA class started this week and it is everyday from 8 - 2:30. :( A lot of the material is common sense, but I have learned a lot of new stuff too. I've tested out on a lot of the basic skills and today I tested out on taking blood pressure.
2. In addition to class everyday, I've been working 3 - 5/6ish in the business office. A lot of scanning and other secretarial duties, but the extra hours are appreciated.
3. Adam is also putting in extra hours tonight. He is out patrolling and looking for speeders and people not wearing their seat belts. There are A LOT of extra officers out this weekend to ensure safety on the roads over the holiday weekend. So please be careful!
4. Harper now jumps in her crib with her feet OFF the mattress - it's hilarious! However she can't seem to figure out her Johnny Jump - go figure!
5. Adam is golfing in a tournament on Sunday with Gary, Justin and Bradley over in Goldfield. I sure hope this nice weather sticks around for them.
6. The plan for tomorrow is to play in the baby pool with Harper - 90 and sunny - YES!
7. My allergies have been TERRIBLE in the past few days. I can't even be outside for 5 minutes before my eyes are itching and I start sneezing. I wonder if an allergy shot would work?! I've never had one but I'm thinking about looking into this.

We hope EVERYONE has a SAFE and FUN weekend! The weather forecast looks awesome! Please stop and think about WHY you have a 3-day weekend. Thank a Veteran - go to a memorial service in your town - fly the American flag - pray for peace - visit your loved ones that are no longer with you - Memorial Day is WAY MORE than just another day of vacation!

Sunday Funday

We never did go swimming b/c the sun couldn't make up it's mind if it wanted to stay out or not. But we still enjoyed the day outside!

Swinging at the park - it was HOT!

Being Silly~

Best Buds

Pretty Ali

This is just a short video of me trying to get Ali to sit by Harper so I could get a picture of them together. She's such a good girl! [Zit = Sit, Brav = good]

7 Quick Takes - a day late

So I'm not off to a very good start with the '7 Quick Takes'...We just had a very busy Friday!

1. Harper had FIVE diaper blowouts this week! I changed her outfits and sheets more times this week than in her entire 8 months of life! Luvs and I are not friends anymore!
2. The cement slab finally got poured for Ali's outdoor kennel - no more living in the garage for Ali!
3. I got asked if I'd like some extra hours at work helping out the business office with some secretarial duties - I could use some extra cash so I will start going in for a few hours everyday for the next few weeks starting on Monday!
4. Harper's 7th tooth popped through! She now has 3 teeth on the bottom!
5. Harper pretty much weaned herself off her afternoon bottle - she now has a 'snack' which consists of juice, Gerber puffs, and toast!
6. Our dear friends Abby and Aaron stayed with us Friday night! It was great catching up - we stayed up until midnight just chatting away! We're rebels - I know!
7. Abby and I went to Northwood today to attend a baby shower for Lisa, our high school friend. She is due in 5 more weeks - but looks like she could pop ANY day now! It was good seeing her and her family! She got some great stuff! Adam and Aaron got in 18 holes while we were at the shower!

I think the warm weather is finally here to stay! Tomorrow is supposed to be 91!!!! I'm going to blow up the baby pool when I get finished with this blog - check back tomorrow for pictures of my little water baby:)

For the love of garbage bags...

Who knew garbage bags were so much fun?!?! As I was shaking out the new garbage bag - Harper was laughing hysterically! This video was taken after a few minutes of playing with the garbage bag - so you can only imagine how hard she was laughing the first few times!!! Baby laughs are contagious- Happy Monday!

7 Quick Takes

This is a new post that I will do every Friday - I've seen other bloggers do this - kind of neat - you can sum up your week for everyone ~ The SUN is SHINING again! TGIF!!! Enjoy the weekend!

1. We refinanced our house from a 20 year loan down to a 15 year loan. We (Adam) will only pay an extra $13 dollars a month!!! We actually pay every two weeks, instead of bi-monthly, which will actually pay off our loan in 12.8 years, instead of 15 years! $13 extra/month = 8 years off the loan = AWESOMENESS!!!!
2. Adam has been training with Ali all week - LONG days/nights. Harper and I miss him :(
3. Harper is on day #4 of going down for naps/bed w/o crying/standing up in her crib! She would usually fight going to sleep for at least one nap and usually bed time ~ I guess 'tough love' is paying off! It's heavenly!
4. I made the decision to have my first garage sale - June 12th! Organizing/junk collecting in progress!
5. Harper got her first case of diaper rash this week - it looked horrible - but is doing much better now! I think it's an accomplishment that we got his far w/o one!
6. Harper and I are hitting up two garage sales today in hopes of finding some winter clothes for her.
7. We are looking forward to getting some yard work/landscaping done tomorrow - and grilling out - I love the weekends!

Celebrations

The past few days have been full of excitement!!!

Graduation~ My brother, Michael, graduated from NIACC with his AA on Friday night. He will be attending Kirkwood in the fall, majoring in Accounting, then transferring to UNI. His plan now is to become a CPA. Good luck, Michael! We are very proud of you!

At Northwestern Steakhouse celebrating with the graduate!

21st Birthday~ Michael turned 21 yesterday! Happy Belated Birthday Michael! I don't think he is going to be quite as crazy as me when I was that age! At least I hope not! Living in Cedar Falls did not help my situation! I hope you enjoy yourself and have a few beers Michael!!!

8 month Birthday~ Harper turned 8 months old today!!! She is already 2/3 done with her first year of life!!! She is getting to be such a big girl! We love her so much - she's a load of fun!

Weight: 18.6 lbs (I even checked it twice - apparently she's becoming long and lean like her daddy)

Diaper Size: 3

Clothing Size: 6-9 months/12 months

Teeth: 6 - but in the process of cutting a few more

Speech: dada, learning the 'b' sound

Eating Habits: Eats every 3-4 hours during the day; baby food/cereal for breakfast, lunch & dinner - along with bottle, a few bottle in b/w - she pretty much loves all food - except bananas and peaches - she is just like a dog, always begging for our food! She started eating some Gerber Graduate finger snacks, along with diluted apple juice from her sippy cup!

Sleeping Habits: 1 long morning nap (1 1/2 - 2 hrs) and 1 long afternoon nap (same as morning); bedtime = 7:30ish - she usually wakes up around 7ish

Favorite Toy: light up/musical little piano (wonderful garage sale find for 50 cents!)

Favorite Activity: ANYTHING outside ~ going for walks, swinging, watching cars drive by, watching Alli run around

New Things:

• crawling
• pulling up onto furniture/toys/crib
• cruising around on furniture
• if you chant "wheel of fortune" - she stares at the TV - haha
• uses a pacifier during naps/bed (we made it 6 1/2 months w/o one - but the bedtime routine got tricky once Harper became mobile)
• hold her own bottle (when she wants to)
• drinks from a sippy cup
• got her first boo-boo ( pulled a bar stool on top of her and got a cut on her forehead)

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mommies that read my blog! Mother's Day is now one of my favorite days of the year - it felt like it was my birthday! Harper got me a card, flower, and an I.O.U. for a pedicure! I had to work from 8-2 on Sunday, so I didn't get to sleep in - but the rest of the day was great! Adam took care of Harper all day - changed all her diapers, got her dressed, fed her, bathed her, and even put her to bed! It was WONDERFUL! He even took us out for supper at a Sushi/Hibachi buffet - soooo yummy!
Being a mother is a lot of work, but worth all of the sweat and tears!!! Adam and I want to thank our mothers for everything that they've done for us over the years! We love you both very much ~ thanks for always being there for us! Until you become a parent yourself, you can never truly understand the amount of unconditional love that a parent has for a child. A child is the greatest gift a person can receive! I am so blessed to have such a sweet little girl in my life!

Standing Up = Boo Boos

I meant to blog about this a few weeks ago ~ Harper has been pulling herself up onto furniture/toys for a few weeks now! Within a week of her learning how to crawl, she started to do this - and she is starting to 'cruise' around the furniture now too! I think we may have our hands full in a few months!!!
This new stage of her life has been bitter-sweet. I am so excited for her, but it is also VERY difficult to do anything that requires her to stay still. This includes: drinking her bottle, changing clothes/diaper, taking a bath, going to bed!!!! She is SO full of life that she cannot sit still to do any of these things anymore. Harper used to love taking baths - but now we are in and out in less than 5 minutes because she tries crawling out of the tub! She hates to lay down to drink her bottle (which often doesn't get drank anymore!), and laying down for naps/bed can be a nightmare at times! She stands at the end of her crib (closest to the door) and screams and screams and screams - sometimes she is half sleeping but she just won't lay down - grrrr! But like I said, I love this new stage of life - it is so fun to watch her learn new things!
Along with standing up, comes falling down! She does pretty well most of the time - except when she loses her balance and brings the bar stool down with her!!! Oops - her first boo boo :(

Big Girl!

This is why she falls - only hanging on with one hand - too busy watching Wheel of Fortune - seriously!

First boo boo

a few hours later -

Day 2

Day 3 - I swear we don't beat her!

Alli

If you know me even just a little bit, then you know that I am NOT a fan of dogs - not even just a little bit! Well, after months of persuasion, ADAM now owns a dog! Yep, you read that right! Adam is the new K-9 officer for Wright County! He loves it so far and this is something that he has wanted to do for a long time ~ he enjoys drug related cases at work. Alli (pronounced Ollie) is a 3 year old Dutch Shepard and she is very well behaved. She will be an outside dog at ALL times - in the winter she will be allowed in the garage. She does not bark at all and is very calm. She does great around Harper and I and Harper LOVES to watch her run around. So far we (yes, I said WE) are enjoying Alli - she is a good dog. I even enjoy being around her - but she still will never ever be an inside dog.

Adam and Alli

Oh yeah, along with Alli came Alli's car - a new Dodge Charger! It sure looks sweet sitting in front of our house :) It's an awesome car! I always assumed that K-9 vehicles were 'normal' inside - but the back seat is taken out - who knew? I didn't!

Congrats to Adam on this new position! You'll do a great job! I am very proud of you!

6 Month Pictures

Better late than never! Only 1 1/2 months late on posting these pics! Despite Harper being crabby, my aunt was able to get some good shots! Enjoy! If you like her photos, check out her facebook page!

she looks sooo guilty in the picture - I love it!

Face lift

I am giving the blog a face lift - new layout, new links, new pages! I have already spent over an hour messing around with the layout - it is so time-consuming! So please be patient with me as I try new things out - I'm hoping that I have it updated no later than Wednesday! So right now it looks kind of silly - but I am in the process of fixing it! Thanks! Come back soon!

It's May!!!

Happy May Day!!! We are so excited that May is finally here - we are definitely looking forward to the sun and warmer temperatures! Look at my May Day basket (Thanks Grandma Betty!) ~ aren't the flowers just beautiful? I love the bright colors! I WILL remember to water these beauts - I think Adam watered my flowers more times than I did last year :)
Sorry for no blogs last week - sometimes I just get lazy!

Upcoming blogs:

• Harper's newest endeavors
• Update on Adam's job
• Summer plans
• Harper's 6 month pics/family pics ( a lil' late : { )

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!