New Faces

Harper met a few new people this week.

1. HAILEE - We were ELATED about Hailee staying at our house on Monday night! Why? She 'backpacked' Central America for 10 months and then decided to end her journey by riding her BICYCLE from Texas to Iowa! We were her last overnight stop - it was great to see her again! And she finally got to meet Harper! They were buds. To read more about Hailee's adventures - check out her blog on the right side of my page - La Vida es Perfecta (or something like that)

Hailee brought along her friend, Mary, to ride with her during her last two days. Thanks for staying gals!

2. KIA - born to Lisa Brevig and Jon Stricker on June 29th! She is a doll!

Proud Mommy and Daddy

I see lots of shopping trips in the future for Harper, Kia, Lisa and I :)

Congrats to Jon and Lisa!!!!

Baby Contest

This past weekend we traveled to Northwood for a few reasons: birthday party for Adam's sister and two of her kids, and to enter Harper in the baby contest at the Worth County Fair. This was all my idea because I won the baby contest myself back in 1984 - can you guess what for? CHUBBY CHEEKS!!!! ha ha - still could today!! Chubby cheeks OR least hair wasn't an option for Harper - so we entered her in 'sweet smile.' She didn't win (which is fine, I wasn't expecting her to) but she looked so darn cute :)

In her pretty dress and headband

Grandma Dawn took her up on stage

Look at Harper standing all by herself!!!

(She's getting closer and closer to walking everyday - I have a funny video to post to prove it!)

Time to get off the computer - Hailee and her friend will be arriving in Clarion within in the next 30 minutes!!!! Yay!!! I bet they are tired - they've ridden about 60 miles INTO the wind ALL day! Poor Girls!!!! We're grilling steaks, potatoes and having some fruit for supper! Can't wait to see that CRAZY girl!!! I'll post pictures tomorrow :)

7 Quick Takes

What a week!!!! We survived - that's all that matters!!!

1. Obviously if you read the previous posts - you know that the city of Clarion flooded on Tuesday night. So did 90% of the houses in Clarion- including ours.
2. We didn't have hot water until today - taking a shower and feeling clean is the BEST!
3. Justin, my mom, and Brett came down today to help clean up. It was 95 degrees with the heat index.
4. Harper decided that she was a big girl and could climb up the stairs. She made it to the 3rd step - tried sitting down - and took a tumble. Poor thing - I think it scared her more than anything. Needless to say, she's stayed clear of the steps.
5. For some odd reason, I had this feeling that I wouldn't be able to get financial aid for college because I was married, owned a home, etc. BUT - I got my award letter this week and I'm eligible. I even got awarded a $1200 grant. Nursing school - here I come!
6. Harper is in Northwood right now with my parents :( My mom took her home with her so we could get some work done tomorrow without having to worry about her. Thank you, mom!
7. We will be going to Northwood again tomorrow night! It is the Worth County Fair this week and Harper is going to be in the baby contest on Sunday morning :) We are also going to a birthday party for Adam's sister and two of her kids.

Well, I need to take advantage of this 'alone' time and get some cleaning done! I get to SLEEP IN tomorrow - how awesome!!!! It just started to rain - please stay out of our basement!

Out of my element

When it comes to thinking outside the box - I guess I'm not so good at it after all! These are two true stories - can't believe I'm even sharing them. I thought I'd provide you some humor. Keep in mind that we don't have hot water yet ;)

Story 1: I asked Adam to fill up some bottles and let them set at room temperature for awhile so Harper wouldn't have to drink a cold bottle. Hello Brooke - we lost hot water - not electricity! The microwave still works!

Story 2: We always hand wash all of Harper's bottles at night. I called Adam up and work and told him that I was going to set a pan of water outside and let the sun warm it up so I could have warm water to wash the bottles. Once again, we still have electricity! All I had to do was warm up a pan of water on the stove. DUH!

Yes, I do have blond hair!

Flooded

Too much of one thing is a bad thing - especially when it's rain! Clarion got ROCKED by a few very strong thunderstorms last night - leaving majority of the town flooded and without power. Clarion got 7 inches of rain over night - and with all of the rain that we've gotten over the past few weeks, the ground is so saturated that there is nowhere for the water to go - except for in EVERY ONE'S basement!

This picture is NOTHING compared to what our basement looked like just a few hours prior. At one point, the water was up to the 4th step - here it is between the first and second.

Yes, our couch is floating!

Fortunately, the water drained itself - all 27 inches! Look at the water lines on the couches! Needless to say we are getting rid of them! Adam tore the carpet out on Monday because we had about an inch of water from the last storm. One less thing to clean up I guess!

Goodbye, TV!

The drywall is shot - you can see the tape bubbling. We are going to have to re-sheet rock the bottom half of the basement. Anyone want to help?!?!

Even though we had all of our belongings in totes, majority of our stuff is ruined. The water tipped over the totes and water got in. All of my college books, pictures, Christmas decorations and done for :( But the saddest item that got ruined is a book that Harper got for Christmas. My parents bought Harper the voice recordable 'The Night Before Christmas' from Hallmark and my grandparents and parents each read a page. My mom also laminated a picture of each of them reading it so Harper could put a face to the voice. I started bawling when I found out the book was ruined.

Some parts of Clarion and Wright County are still under water. This road is 2 1/2 blocks from my house - so sad!

We have never experienced anything like this before. It is very hard to accept. But after taking to co-workers, it could be worse. There are people who have raw sewage in the basements, 4-6 feet of water, furniture that is floating and up to the ceiling, caved in basement walls, etc. We consider ourselves fortunate. In addition to the furniture and TV, our hot water heater isn't working yet. Please cross your fingers that after it dries out it will start working again.

The positive from all of this : we are moving our furniture from upstairs to the basement - which means we get to go furniture shopping something this summer!!!!! Yay!!!! And the upstairs is fine, our air works, we have power and water - life is good! As long as Harper is safe and happy, so am I!

Happy Fathers Day

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

7 Quick Takes

1. Adam finished up his training with Ali on Wednesday - so he is now an official K-9 handler! Way to go Adam!
2. We've been working on Harper's standing skills this week - she can stand for about 5 seconds all on her own - this may not be such a good idea after all!
3. Heavy rain + obstructed street drains = water in basement = very angry homeowners = complaints to City Hall
4. Happy Birthday to my mother today!
5. Happy Birthday to Brett, tomorrow!
6. Happy Fathers Day to Adam and Happy Birthday to our nephew Cody, both on Sunday!
7. We are heading to Northwood again (this will be 3 weekends in a row) on Sunday to celebrate with these wonderful people!

9 months

Harper turned NINE MONTHS last Friday! Ever since she was in my belly I talked about how I couldn't wait until she was around 9 months - because I love babies at this age. And she hasn't let me down - I absolutely love this stage of her life! Only 3 more months and she will turn one - it'll be here before we know it :(

Weight: 19.6 lbs

Diaper Size: 3

Clothing Size: 12 months

Teeth: 8!!!

Speech: nothing new - just da-da and lots of screaming/squealing

Eating Habits: we're finally up to 6 oz bottles every 3 hours during the day! Oatmeal and bottle for breakfast~veggies and bottle for lunch~ fruit, cereal and bottle for supper~ bottle before bed with cereal in it

Sleeping Habits: still taking 1 1/2 - 2 hours naps three times a day! bedtime is 7:30ish and she wakes up b/w 7 and 8 on most days -

Favorite Toy: not one in particular, but anything that she can spin - she does have some favorites at her Grandmas' houses

Favorite Activity: being outside or looking out the window - she loves watching cars drive by, people biking/walking by, and watching Adam and our neighbors mowing the yard! It is so weird!

New Things:

• waves bye-bye
• gives kisses
• eats pretty much whatever we eat - for example, last night we had stir fry and she ate small pieces of chicken and broccoli - she is very good about chewing up her food

Minneapolis Getaway

Adam and I spent Saturday and Sunday in Minneapolis to celebrate our anniversary. Despite the weather, we had a BLAST! Due to the rain, we didn't go to Valley Fair - so we opted for the rides at the Mall of America instead. After 3 rides, I was nauseous - so we shopped instead.

After shopping, we checked into our hotel - The Raddisson - which was right downtown - just two blocks from everything. We were 'randomly' chosen to stay in one of their model rooms - it was very hip and modern - we didn't complain! After freshening up we walked to The Shout House , which is a dueling piano bar. It was awesome - everyone sings along and dances. I definitely recommend going there if you're looking for something to do in Minneapolis.

Before heading home on Sunday, we had lunch at Matt's Bar, which is home of the Jucy Lucy. It was good - but I expected more.

Thank you to my parents for watching Harper - it is greatly appreciated!

Our attempt at getting a family picture:)

Our modern hotel room - it's HOT PINK!

4 years ~


At The Shout House

The Jucy Lucy

Food Wars Champion!

4 Years

Four years ago I married my best friend - that sounds so cheesy, but it is so true! I don't know what I'd do without that man! We plan on going to Minneapolis for the weekend to celebrate. On Saturday we will go to Valley Fair - a standing summer tradition for the past NINE years! We are going to stay downtown Minneapolis and check out the 'establishments' that night. And I'm sure Sunday will entail a stop at IKEA, Mega Mall, and/or Medford! We are also going to eat lunch at Matt's Bar - home of the Jucy Lucy. Little Harper will be staying overnight with my parents - this will make two Saturday's in a row that Adam and I have been alone - I could get used to this! :)

Four years down ~ a lifetime to go :)

7 Quick Takes

Holy cow - it has been a very busy and tiring week! And next week isn't looking any slower. I'm going to attempt to recall 7 events from our week - but I haven't been home much to acknowledge much.

1. Adam's team got 4th place in the golf tournament on Sunday - one spot away from winning prizes. They all had a good time, regardless.
2. I passed the written part of my CNA class - now just have to make it through clinicals.
3. Clinicals started today - 6 AM to 2:30 at the nursing home - I did not enjoy one minute of it. 3 more days to go - I will stick it out - but it sucks! I do not like caring for the elderly.
4. Harper is teething again - I'm guessing that she'll have 2 or 3 new teeth by next week - it's insane!
5. With more teeth comes more food - Harper now has tried tiny pieces of chicken. She eats anything that is fed to her! She does a great job chewing up her food - she looks like an old man - it's the cutest!
6. Adam is headed to Northwood tomorrow for a golf tournament. (if the weather cooperates) I have to work so he is taking Harper with him for the grandparents to spoil :)
7. I got offered a job at the hospital and I am totally confused about what to do - nursing school or take the job?!?!?! More on that later.

Hope everyone enjoys their first weekend in June!!!!

Fan-tastic

'Fan' is one of the words that we (I) sign to Harper. This video is proof that I am a good teacher - haha! She is so smart!

It makes me wonder how many other words she recognizes/understands. I'm pretty sure she knows these words as well:

• outside (she looks out the window or at the door)
• Ali/puppy (also looks outside)
• NO! - she listens MOST of the time when you tell her 'No'
• eat (looks in the kitchen and then proceeds to whine until you feed her)
• book (looks for her books - she LOVES LOVES LOVES books)
• duckie ( she grabs him - she HAS to have this to sleep - no if's, and's, or but's about it!)

I'm sure there are many more words that we are unaware of. We are absolutely loving this stage of Harper's life. She makes us laugh non-stop. She is becoming such a silly girl - she loves to laugh and make us laugh. She has even developed her own 'fake laugh.' I hate being away from her because I feel like I am going to miss something. She is learning so much right now - I can see her thinking and the light bulbs going off in her head - it's amazing! For example: Tonight Harper was staring out the window at the cars parked in front of our house - I pointed to the cars and repeated the word 'car' a few times and did the sign for it. She would look at me, then back at the car, and then make some whispering noise - haha.

In other news:

June - I didn't forget about you!!! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO ADAM'S MOM, JUNE! WE LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY! YOU DESERVE NOTHING BUT THE BEST! SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND!

Prayer Request: Please pray for my younger brother, Brett, as he is having surgery on his ear tomorrow in Iowa City. He's a brave fellow - he will do great! We love you Brett!