Personal Photographer

I just wanted to post some of the most recent photos Emilee took of Harper. We were joking around the other day that Harper is going to grow up thinking Emilee is her personal photographer. She's going to have the impression that everyone has their own photographers that follow them around and touch up any slight flaw they may have. I'm not sure, at what point, we should break the news to her. The funny thing is, if Emilee keeps it up, we won't ever have to.

Another day at the office

Emilee, Harper, and I have been working on the invitations for my brother-in-law's wedding. They are so cute, I can't wait for Beth to send them out. Harper and I have been spending a lot of time over at Emilee's for the design portion of the project. We finally completed the design and wording last week and have moved on to the printing. We spent and agonizing 3 1/2 hours at Kinkos yesterday (along with the rest of the world). Harper became our main entertainment while we were waiting, and that of several other people lucky enough to be there that day. Today we finished all the cutting and printing with one last trip to our favorite print center. They were nothing but happy to see us back. Harper has been hard at work this past week, but it's all in the name of love for her soon to be Aunt Beth.

It's been over a week since I blogged last so, just for fun, I added a few extra pictures from our weekend. Enjoy

Hooray for Father's Day!

As great as Mother's day was for me, Adam's first Father's day has proven to be just as exciting. We decided, despite a lazy morning and a late start, to go up to the lake again. Last time we went we didn't take the baby, only the dog. This time, with it being Father's day and all, we brought Harper up for her first lake experience. We could not have asked for a better day!! It stayed in the low to mid 80's with a nice breeze all day. We spent the day with the Gipson's at their beautiful lake house. They are good friends of Adam's family and are always very generous with their home. Adam and I spend quite a bit of time there in the summer. They even allowed us to stay in their "Bali Suit" over our first anniversary weekend. It is quite impressive.

I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to the two best dad's I know. I love you dad. I love you Adam. I'm sure Adam and Harper will have as great of a relationship as I do with my dad. I just hope for my sake she doesn't go through a "I want to dress like dad" phase. Sorry mom.

Here are a few pictures to document Harper's debut at Lake Gaston, and Adam's first Father's Day.


Harper wore her surf shirt and board shorts. There's no room for dainty bathing suits when you are planning a day of water sports. Here she is just hanging out on the dock with dad.

Harper is girl with safety on her mind. She knows how important a life jacket is at the lake. She enjoyed wearing it as much as every other kid does. Not much.

Harper spent a little time riding the waves on the jet ski.

She bounced around the wake on the tube.



We even managed to get a little "tummy time" in while we were there. Harper was not too excited about having to work on her vacation.

She was able to catch a few rays before the day was over.

By the time the day was done, so was she. It was a very quiet ride home.

This a picture of the "Bali Suite" at the Gipson's house. This is a view of the bedroom into the bathroom with a HUGE shower and jacuzzi tub.

This was the INCREDIBLE view from the shower, tub, and bed. We had floor to ceiling windows that slid open from one wall to the next. It was like sleeping outside.

Ella's Day Out

Ella has been feeling a little low the last couple months. She has definitely been put on the back burner more than a few times since Harper came around. Ella was our whole world for the past 3 years. We hardly ever called her by her name, she was just "the baby" in our household. We told ourselves we wouldn't sacrifice any of Ella's attention during these first months, knowing how sensitive she is. We have not done so well with our promise to her.

Along with this promise to Ella we also said we were going to spend as much time as we could on the boat this summer. Last summer was a wash considering I was pregnant and boating was not on my list of approved activities. We planned to go up every chance we got. With me not working and Adam having Thursdays and Fridays off, we figured at least one a week was doable. Amazing how things seem to come up, and on always on Thursday or Friday. Non the less, we made it up to the lake for the first time yesterday. We dropped the baby off at Nana's and took Ella with us for a special day.

I truly believe that the lake is Ella's favorite place on earth. As Adam said, she probably gets more enjoyment out of boat than anyone. It was so great to see her "spirit" back. She was her old self with not a care in the world. She is an absolute Lab through and through. We can't keep her out of the water. She will chase ANYTHING that goes in the water, including people. We will usually come home with at least one Ella related injury. This time it was only a few surface scratches.

I hope this is only the beginning of our lake days this summer. I can't wait until Harper can join us. I'm sure Ella can't wait either.

Multi tasking

I have heard that women are better at multi tasking than men, and I venture to say moms are the queens. Our house is a split level, and we have 3 sets of stairs from the bedrooms to the laundry room. In the course of a day I probably trek up and down those stairs 50 times. I am, one by one, finding ways to cut down the trips. Lucky for me, Harper is a very good sport.



Ok, so I haven't been keeping up very well with all our pictures. Bear with me, I'm taking this opportunity to catch up. These pictures were too sweet not to share. The other day, Harper and Adam were just laying around on a lazy Sunday. I usually put a lot of thought into her daily outfits, but today was not one of them. It's funny how cute accidents can be. Like father, like daughter.

Day at the Spa

We gave Harper a bath today without her bathing sling. We used it when she was too small for the tub alone. We noticed in her last couple of baths that she was getting a little long for it. Today we took the sling off and put her in her little tub. She was so cute, she looked like she was in her own private hot tub. Her little legs kept floating to the top when the tub was filled up. She was so relaxed and comfortable I couldn't help but snap a few pictures. I also put in a picture from her first bath to show you the comparison. Next up, the real bath tub.

Up Up and Away

Well, we did it. We took Harper on her first plane ride. My mom and I traveled to Vermont last week for 4 days and Harper decided to tag along. My best friend Valerie's dad lost his battle with cancer after a 7 month fight. He will be missed. This was certainly not what I wanted her first trip to Vermont to be about, however, I think she had a great time seeing where I grew up and meeting all the people that mean so much to me. I'm sure she will be making many more trips to the green mountain state in her life, but she will never have another first time. Harper was, despite my fears, a perfect angel on all the flights. She slept 90% of the time, the other 10% she was easily amused. She was a hit everywhere she went and stirred up quite a crowd at times. Bless her heart, she may be dealing with that all her life.

I Love My Bumbo!!

Yea, Harper is into her big girl toys! She is 12 weeks now and doing a really good job at holding her head up. She actually has had abnormally strong neck muscles since birth, but in the last couple of weeks she has made significant strides. She is loving having her own little chair and Mom and Dad can't help but laugh every time we stick her in it. She is like an old man in his barcalounger.

Words are Not Enough

There have had many many blessings in my life. I was lucky enough to grow up with a very close and loving family. I am married to a wonderful man who makes me happy every day we're together. In addition to all of these amazing things was the birth of our beautiful baby girl. I will never forget the moment she was born, how I felt, what was going through my mind. I am eternally grateful to Emilee for capturing every emotion we had on that day. Adam and I are so happy she has not only given us these memories, but she has given us the ability to show them to her some day. I want her to always know how much we wanted her, and how much she has brought into our lives. She makes us smile every time we look at her. It's still very surreal to me that I went through 9 months of pregnancy and labor; That she is, in fact, a part of Adam and myself. This becomes completely real every time I look at her.

Thank you Emilee for this amazing gift. I hope I can return the favor to you very soon.