Barefoot at the Bay

Adam and I are lucky enough to be on the very exclusive list of people invited to the Barefoot at the Bay party every year. It is an annual 3 day long party hosted by our friends Whitley and Steve and Whitley's parents, June and Jobi. It takes place at June and Jobi's house on the Albemarle sound. Every year there are upwards of 30 people there. They have the perfect house for a gathering of this size. Not only do they welcome everyone into there home, but they have a HUGE yard for those who want to camp out, and a nice guest house for the overflow. Rain or shine it's always a great time. Adam and I went a couple years ago and had a blast. We were unable to go the last 2 years but made a point not to miss it this year. Whitley and Steve have a 19 month old little boy, Tully. He's the cutest thing, and he was so entertaining for Harper. We had absolutely the best time. I can't wait for next year when Harper will be running around with the other kids.



Tully was generous enough to let Harper use his activity center while she was there so that she could hang with the group in her own chair.

Harper loved the swing. Dad got a little overzealous with the pushing at one point, and so the swinging came to an abrupt stop. I'm sure she'll get over it soon and be right back up on that horse.

The house was built for parties. The entire house is up on stilts so it didn't even matter if it rained, which it did, the party still went on.


They had 4 corn hole games set up. It was like a tournament. Harper sat out while mom and dad played (and won) their games.

Whitley, Melissa, and I enjoying the band. It feels good to still be a groupie with my girls.

Such a fun group of girls.


Early morning picture of the tents. What a view to wake up to.

Harper had a great time in the water with Dad. She, again, needed a little coaxing, but she eventually decided she liked.


Even the dogs went for a swim. They looked like little suitcases in their life jackets.
Harper keeping it lazy on the swing after along day. Good times.

Chompers

Following in her mom's footsteps, Harper had her first tooth at 4 months. We were pretty sure it was on it's way with the constant drooling, chewing, and little bit of fussiness. The first tooth saw the break of day a couple days after her 4 month birthday, the second one appeared about a week later. Wow, she's such a big girl!! She is still on bottles only for now, but we will probably be starting to add in some solids in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Now that she has some teeth I figure we should start using them. Things are moving so fast. I know I'm going to miss all these firsts when they're over, but for now, they're so exciting.




This picture was so cute, I thought I'd add it just for fun. We put Harper in her jungle jumper the other night just before bed time. Adam and I eventually realized we didn't hear the music anymore, and found our sweet little girl sound asleep. Poor thing. Oh, and she's not quite tall enough to touch the floor yet, hence the Monopoly game.

Still plunging

I over looked this video when I was going through the pictures. It's too funny not to post. Sorry it's sideways. I'm not sure why it taped horizontally. Oh well, it's still funny.

Making the plunge

Harper hit the pool this week. We spent the evening with Lauren, Bryan, and Katie at their neighborhood pool. It was here that Harper made the inevitable move from the baby blow up pool, to the kiddie pool. She was definitely not enthralled with the idea at first, but with a little forceful convincing via mom and dad, she came around. The water was quite warm in the world of pools, but cold to little girls used to warm baths in the sink. The pool was absolutely perfect for her though. It was only about a foot deep, so once acclimated, she could stand and splash around. We didn't get a whole lot of smiles but we know she was smiling inside. Who cares anyway? She wasn't crying and therefore, a water baby she will be.

Finally

I'm so glad she finally did it. Emilee has decided to share her talents with the rest of the world. She has gone into business and launched her website as of yesterday. I know she will be appreciated by everyone else as much as she is by me. She is an amazing nurse by trade and an amazing photographer by passion. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Emilee Beth Photography. Check it out at www.emileebeth.com

4 months already??!!

Wow, the first month felt like a year, but the last 3 have gone by in a blink. Harper has changed and learned so much in such a short time. It's amazing to watch her grow every day. I am so blessed that I am able to stay home with her through this time. I can't imagine missing even one minute of it.
Harper has been making big strides this past month. She has been standing and sitting a lot lately, with us holding her of course. She doesn't like to lie down any more, she is constantly trying to sit up. Yet, when we try to sit her down, she won't bend at the waist, she only wants to stand. Funny girl. She has even started holding herself up if we put her in place and let her hold on to something. I can't wait to see what this month will bring.

Thank you to all our faithful fans and followers from the last 4 months. I love love love all the comments people leave us, and knowing how much you all care for our family.

Only the beginning

Today marked the first day of Harper's and my new routine. I have recently joined the YMCA, and am determined to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Among all of the fitness advantages in belonging to a gym, the Y offers a plethora of fun for Harper. Today, while I worked out, she enjoyed herself in the nursery. This was definitely a little hard for me, they are strangers after all, but we both did really good. The nursery will be the only place at the Y Harper will be experiencing for the next couple of months. Come September however, when she turns 6 months, she will be starting her first round of swimming lessons. I can't wait!!! Today was a big day for both of us, but it was only the first of many.

We didn't get any pictures of Harper at the gym today, but we did take a short video of her and Ella playing just before bed. Harper really seems to be recognizing Ella a lot more now. Today she just thought Ella was the funniest thing. Ella seems to be taking a shine to Harper too. In the future maybe we won't need to coax her with peanut butter.

Just another day of shooting.

I'm not going to get wordy. I just wanted to post some of Emilee's newest. We went out to the Arboretum and snapped a few before the sun went down. So stink'n cute!

"Take me out to the ball game"

Adam, Harper, and I headed to Durham this past Thursday for some Bulls Baseball action. We went as part of the DR Horton circle. We had a blast!! Adams co-workers are a super nice, always fun, group of people. They all really like Adam, and they LOVE little miss Harper.
We sat in the picnic area so we were able to all walk around and mingle during the game. Thank God for this, they were not playing their best. We left at the top of the 7th inning, and they were loosing 8-0. We stayed long enough to see Adam's sales partner, Matt, get his butt handed to him by one of their female co-workers. It was valiant effort by Matt.
Before leaving, Mr. Wool E. Bull made an appearance in our section. Harper was beside herself with excitement to have her picture taken with a true local celebrity. All in all, it was a great time.

New best friends on the 4th of July

Adam, Harper and I had a great time celebrating our nation's birthday last weekend. We spent Friday with some of our "Hurricane Hockey clan". We were surrounded by food, and kids of all ages. We had a great time, and even got treated to the fireworks show by the town of Fuquay. Harper was mesmerized by the colorful bursts of light, and not at all bothered by the noise. She was such a good girl.
Saturday night (the 4th) we went over to our friends Lauren and Bryan's house. It was a low key evening with Harper and their 10 day old baby Katie. The girls got along swimmingly. Lauren and I have already decided that that they will be the best of friends so they didn't really have much of a choice but to love each other. The guys were even nice enough to give us a little break while they watched the babies. I think the girls really enjoyed the Nascar race.
Harper, naturally, was dressed for the occasion. She proudly wore stars and stripes to show her enthusiasm for this special day. We hope everyone had as great of holiday as we all did.

A day of firsts

Well, we finally did it. We took Harper out on the boat for the first time. The last time we went up to the lake we stayed on the dock, not venturing out onto the lake. This time we left the dog at home and brought Harper for her first boating escapade . As first timers, Adam an I were naturally a little nervous about how she would do with the wind, sun, noise, etc. We put up the partial top so we could keep her in the shade, but there wasn't much we could do about the rest. To our amazement and delight, SHE LOVED IT!! Nothing fazed her out there. As long as she was fed on time and kept cool she was happy. She even got in her afternoon nap. It was a beautiful day weather wise, about 85 degrees and a little breezy. The lake wasn't crowded so Adam and I were able to relax and just enjoy the family.
In addition to her first day on the boat, Harper laughed for the first time. We have been getting smiles and even squeals for quite a while now, but this was a definite upgrade. After a little practice, we were able to get on on video.