I'm not saying she's a genius or anything but...

I really have nothing to go on since she's our first baby, we have no nieces or nephews, and she's not in preschool yet. However, I am completely amazed at how fast kids at this age learn things. I wish I could retain information like her, I'm pretty sure if that were the case I would rule the world by now.

Harper is 21 months old and here are her most recent "can do's".

1.) Harper knows 21 out of 26 letters in the alphabet!! She will either point to them if I say the name or she will tell me the name if I point to it.

2.) She knows all the letters in her name and recognizes her name when spelled out.

3.) Though she can't count on her own yet, she will say the numbers at the same time as me when counting all the way up to 10!

4.) She now knows and uses over 100 words, and will repeat and remember just about any word we say to her. She regularly combines 2 words together and has started combining 3 words more and more often. It's crazy to think she will be speaking in sentences in not too long.

5.) She is getting much better about the potty, sitting on it for longer, knowing what it's for, however, still no actual success. Trust me you will all be the first to know when she does.

6.) She knows some shapes, Circle, Rectangle, Oval, Star, Heart, Moon, and even Pentagon (yes I said pentagon). Funny to me that square has been the tough one for her to learn.

7.) She knows the colors, blue, red, purple, and yellow. Colors have been the hardest thing for her to learn. Ironic, considering color is my expertise.

8.) Harper can halfway dress, and completely undress herself. She now gets huffy if we don't let her do it ON HER OWN!

9.) She LOVES shoes and will put on and walk around in any pair that has been left unattended within her range.

10.) And the big one...HARPER CAN NOW WEAR PIGTAILS!!! This is huge! I haven't been this excited since I found out she was a girl.

And just because I can't publish any post without a picture...here you go.

Business trips are such a downer.

In most cases I would definitely agree with this statement. However, our latest trip to the NC mountains would not fit into this category at all.
Adam and I accompanied Mike and Emilee this year on their annual Christmas trip to Asheville. We went up for 3 specific reasons.

1.) To get a Christmas tree from a "cut your own" tree farm.

2.) To visit with an old friend from high school.

3.) And most importantly, to find some furniture. Asheville being the hub of the antique furniture market.

We, very happily, accomplished all 3!! We spent plenty of time shopping around for goodies to add to the enormous "need to paint" pile in my garage. Plus, Emilee found a few additions for her photography prop collection. The next day we went to brunch at a cute little restaurant right in the middle of downtown and met up with our friends Lynell and Don and her 2 girls. We had a fabulous time catching up and everyone meeting one another. Her girls were so sweet and incredibly well behaved. It made me a little regretful we didn't bring Harper. However, the night before when we were bar hoping and that morning when we slept until 10 completely justified our decision.
From brunch we headed off to find our perfect tree. We followed Em and Mike since they had been there before and wanted to revisit the same farm. As we got further and further up the mountain we began to see more and more snow. The irony of the situation is that Adam and Kenny had switched trucks the night before we drove up because Adam has been having some issues with his engine and we didn't want to get stuck in Asheville or have to have it towed back to Raleigh...$$$. Kenny's truck is much newer and more reliable so it seemed like a no brainer to make the switch. Ha Ha. We in fact traded a possible breakdown with 4 wheel drive and good tires, for a great running truck with 2 wheel drive and bad tires. We got about 20 feet down the road to the tree farm when we decided it wasn't such a good idea. Too late! It took us 15 mins and several attempts to get back to solid ground. We then got in the truck with Em and Mike (I, on Emilee's lap, and Adam in the bed of the truck) and proceeded down a very steep, very windy ice covered road. This was definitely one of those dilemmas you pray your kids are smart enough never to get into. Any way, we made it safely to the house only to find...THEY WERE CLOSED DO TO THE ROADS!! Then we got stuck in their driveway.
Blah, blah, blah, we eventually got out with the help of a random guy and found our way to another tree farm that was open and ready for business. Keep in mind it was 19 degrees and snowing during all of this so it made for a beautiful but FREEZING cold experience.

We had a fabulous time and can't wait to make it back next year.

Harper has to get this for Christmas or she'll just DIE

Need a last minute idea? These are the cutest little snow boots perfect for this global warming induced winter climate we are enduring. Plus they go perfect with her new pink and black snow suit she got.


Where can you get them you ask? Well, it just so happens I have the website right here, and it's free shipping!

Oh my gosh I can't believe I forgot to post these!!

Look at her perfect form...poise...and extraordinary balance.

And...the dismount.

Oh one piece zip pajamas, we had a really good run.

Ugh...too tired for a cute title, just need to catch up.

Admittedly, the entire fall season got away from me. We did a lot of enjoying and picture taking, but not enough blogging.

First off...Harper's introduction to the fair. We went with some great friends Whitley & Steve and their sweet little boy Tully (a strong contender for her arranged marriage). We went during the week so the crowds were minimal, and had perfect weather to boot. Harper was luke warm about the rides. She could take 'em or leave 'em, but the waiting in line was not for her. She enjoyed the food and was a big fan of the well crafted carnival prize her dada won for her.











In November we took Harper to her first college football game, ECU. We went with our friends Anne and Andy and they brought their little girl Kate. Prior to the game we played out a little energy on the jungle gym. It was quite cold that day and it took Harper a little while to warm up to the idea. After that we went in to the game, where we stayed approximately 1 quarter. This was not at all because of the girls. They were good as gold and we couldn't have asked for better behavior. We left because it was flipping cold out there, we were cramped, and not to mention...getting killed by Navy. As soon as we walked out of the stadium, it started to rain. It was at that point the girls decided they wanted to play and frolic on the way back to the car. This made the process of getting warm and dry about 3 times as long. God love 'em, they were having fun and deserved a little freedom after being so good during the game.

Out with the old in with the new.

Harper and Ella have always had a special bond. From the first days they spent together there was love in the air. Ella is a big 80 pound lab that is oodles of fun to jump on, roll under and play tug 'o war with. Big dogs are undoubtedly super amusing. However, there is also a glorious world of games and recreation to be had with small dogs. Harper has been around a few smaller dogs, as I have several friend with miniature breeds, and ALWAYS finds them hilarious. My friend Meredith brought over her (oh too cute) Cockadoodle a couple weeks ago for us to meet. Rigby was, to say the least, full of energy and gave Harper the highlight of her day week. The 2 of them couldn't get enough of each other and it was quite entertaining to watch.

Suck it up Daddy, I want some candy!

This Halloween will be one for the books I'm sure. Obviously, with it being Harper's first year of actual door to door trick or treating, it will hold a special place in our hearts. However, there will be an additional memory that came with this momentous event. Adam was sick!!! If you know me at all you know that this statement deserves exclamation points.

Adam came down with some sort of stomach flu late Saturday night. As the soldier that he is he tried to do a little studying in the library Sunday morning; but after a valiant effort...spent the rest of the day in bed. We all had plans to go over to Harper's friend Katie's house for some trick or treating in their neighborhood. This did not happen. By 5 o'clock Adam was awake and ready to give it a go for his little princess, but we decided to just go to a few houses on our street to keep it as easy as we could. We got the baby in her costume, the wagon out of the garage, and we were off... 5 houses later, we were done.

Harper did great! She walked right up to the house, pounded on the door, then contemplated which piece of candy she was going to take before EVENTUALLY choosing one. I will say, with Adam being sick, and Harper only allowed 1/2 of a little tootsie roll a day, that little bit of candy lasted a LOOOONG time.

Here are some pictures of my little Peacock.

Serving up a little pumpkin patch, with a hay ride on the side.

Sorry for the delay in my post. I have honestly forgotten to keep up with the family blog with everything else that's going on.

Keeping it short... my mom joined Adam, Harper and myself for an entertaining trip to Hillridge Farms. There are a million things to do there and I'm pretty sure we tried them all. Some were a hit, some not so much.

Enjoy the pics.

::Warning:: :: Warning:: This could be too cute to handle.

Last week, Harper and I met Lauren and Katie out at the Farmer's Market for lunch and a little "palling around". It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day and the girls took complete advantage of it. They chased each other up the hill, and back down the hill, played ring around the rosie, and excitedly announced every time a car drove by. What better way to spend the day.

OMG...I hope I'm ready for this

Ok, I did it. I launched a website and Facebook page for my furniture!

Thanks to Emilee I have a well crafted website that couples as a professional blog. I think this will be a better fit for my kind of biz. People want to see before and afters, and everything in between. I'm hoping that by giving each piece it's own introduction and editorial, people will connect better and want to give them all a home...much like puppies.

Well, Saturday actually marked the first "coming out" for The Painted Peacock. Emilee Beth Photography had a Halloween costume event that was held at our house. She invited me and our friend Lauren to show our stuff. Lauren is an extremely talented artist who sells kids painted step stools, canvases, bow holders, etc (let me know if you want to get in touch with her). It was a gorgeous day, everything went perfectly, and all the kids looked great in their costumes!

As far as the furniture, we had a lot of nice complements, and lookers but no purchases. Well, at least not then. We launched the site and FB announcement last night around 9pm. By this morning I have had inquiries about every piece of furniture except for 2!! Holy crap! It took me 2 months to find and paint all that furniture. I am definitely going to have to find some more free time in my schedule to keep up with this apparent demand.

Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED! However, I'm a little nervous about keeping up.

A big fat THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me get started. Don't think for a second your job is done. WE have a lot of work to do (ha ha).

See our website
See us on Facebook

Fashion Friday...Dust off those boots.

It's finally cowboy boot weather in the south. Well, I guess what I should say is, we have had a day or 2 cool enough for boots tossed into the last 2 weeks. They are however, starting to come a little more often, and those warm days aren't getting quite as warm as they used to. FALL IS HERE AND I LOVE IT!!!!