The Massey Family Blog

Letter to Santa + Harper at 3

2011-12-06T10:03:00.001-08:00

This is Harper's letter to Santa Claus.Here's a translation she gave me for those of you who don't read preschooler.And here is a picture of a trampoline with a slide that goes ziiiiip.Harper at 3 (well, 3 1/2 really) is a pretty cool kid. We have our moments, of course, but that's what time out is for, right? At 3 1/2, Harper:
- Is obsessed with the human body. She's calmed down about it over the last few weeks, but she'd love nothing more than to cuddle up and read about intestines or watch a discovery channel show about brain surgery.
- Likes to do projects (or "pa-jects" as they sound when she says it)
- Can count to 100
- Can spell her first and last name (I guess singing the spelling of her name to her to the tune of the Mickey Mouse song since birth has finally paid off)

- Can write a few letters (H, A, F, O, Z and sometimes a few others)

- Can write and spell a few words (zoo, off, no)
- Loves to write "notes" and send emails on Daddy's ipad
- Still sings her little made up song "I love you. You love me. We are the best friends together."
- Eats a few more foods/vegetables, but only when we bribe her
- Speaking of bribes, she loves peppermint patties and chocolate
- Goes to preschool two mornings a week and likes it
- Is 38.5 inches tall and weighs 32 pounds

October-November

2011-11-22T04:54:00.000-08:00

Bone Girl at the house...Bone Girl with her friends at school...Bone Girl making pasta in the kitchen...Bone Girl working the slot machines... (heehee)Went to NC/SC for our 7th anniversary...And got to see my best friend Judy...And visit with gargoyles...While overlooking a palatial estate...Came back home and captured our japanese maple tree changing colors.
We'll see if I can manage to post more photos before the end of the month.

Preschool

2011-09-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the sideways shots. That little feature is thanks to Blogger evidently.

Harper is loving school so far. She's anxious to go each time and has great stories to tell and projects to show us when she comes home. She's slowly learning the other kids names and sharing them with us.

Busy Summer

2011-08-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, if you don't read my art blog at all, you might think we've fallen off the face of the earth. Really, we've just been traveling all over it and having fun adventures. The photos are from our trip to Huron, Ohio. We stayed at a little RV spot called Firefly Beach on Lake Erie.Harper found lots of rocks, shells, and sea glass at "Erie Beach" as she calls it, but she was pretty darn intrigued by these pistachio shells too.Yes, Doug can find internet access anywhere.The front room is finally coming together. Just need to hang up pictures, get curtains, and install the light.

In other news, Harper got a shiner when she got hit with the swing in the backyard. Just in time for school (her first day is tomorrow).

Nashville...

2011-06-07T04:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Nashville over the weekend. Lots of pics on the Flickr site...
Harper was a good little traveler. Better than I was, I'm sure. Ok, I wasn't that bad.While I was taking a shower Sunday morning, Harper was busy building what she calls "the machine" with a bunch of pillows and blankies. The machine makes you better. Not really sure how this pillow contraption works yet. I'll keep you posted. She's recreating one in our living room. :)

Harper's Third Birthday!

2011-05-07T04:06:00.001-07:00

Rainbow

2011-04-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T06:55:00.001-07:00

Harper Jane on Easter Day (4/24/2011)

Almost 3 year old (in 11 days)

30 pounds

37 inches tall

I miss my bubby.

2011-04-10T21:17:00.001-07:00

I wish I could transport you here right now for cuddles, baby girl. I miss you.

There's going to be good with the bad, right? Right??

2011-03-31T12:51:00.001-07:00

Our little stinker has reached a rotten egg phase. The hitting, yelling, throwing, testing all the boundaries phase. {Sigh}

When she gets in trouble, she wants the whole story recounted to Daddy. Harper: Tell Daddy about how I threw the pasta and had a time out.

So, some funny and sweet Harper stuff to remind me of the good...

- Instead of saying "nothing," Harper says "anything". Example- Mama: What do you want to drink Harper? Harper: Anything (meaning, I don't want anything)

- Applesauce is still pronounced "Appleboss".

- "You are berry weltum." = You are very welcome (She may be a stinker, but she's still polite.)

- "I see La Tour Eiffel in Paree." (Paris) = every cell phone tower she sees

- "There's my silver (red/black/white/etc) friend." = all the cars on the road

And finally, my favorite...
- "I lub you."

Still Remodeling

2011-03-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

Feels like there are a zillion little remodeling details to finish. I'm just trying to ignore most of them until work calms down and after the Artfest trip. Doug is making good progress on his pieces though.

I have photos of the progress, but all the clutter around here is too distracting. I'll show you pretty ones of the dining room and kitchen when we get done. I DO want to show you that we have a new bathroom in the back of the house now thanks to my handy husband. It's kind of hard to take a photo of it, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

Going Places 3-26-2011

2011-03-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

Going Places 3-26-2011, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Pledge of Allegiance

2011-03-07T07:46:00.003-08:00

Pledge of Allegiance, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Busy Working

2011-03-07T07:46:00.001-08:00

Busy Working, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

As of Today

2011-01-23T09:46:00.001-08:00

Harper...
... took her first shower. She used to not like to get her hair and face wet, so this is a big deal.
... eats pasta. Also impressive because she turned her nose up at it for about a year. She even tried two bites of eggs the other day. That didn't go quite as well.
... wants to sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on her food. When she does, the sprinkles it in little circle motions.
... can draw faces now.
... thinks WALL-E is the center of the universe. It is almost all she talks about.
... likes to watch her Daddy play solitare on the computer. She wants him to win so she can watch all the cards bounce. She tells him all sorts of encouraging things like, "You can do it, Daddy!" and "You're doing a great job." She's quite the cheerleader.
... loves to wear dresses, necklaces, bracelets, and anything else resembling jewelry. "It makes me beautiful!"
... likes to build castles with blocks.
... calls all paper money "fifty dollars". Speaking of money, she likes it... she'll clean up all sorts of stuff for a quarter. Oh, and she likes to clean (as a result of hanging out with my mother-in-law, not me, I assure you).
... can count to 14.
... can spell Mickey Mouse, but not really Harper yet. (Sad, but true.)
... can sing the ABCs, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, You are My Sunshine, and some of Puff the Magic Dragon.

You are my sunshine

2011-01-18T10:07:00.001-08:00

You are my sunshine, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

We are so beautiful!

2011-01-18T10:00:00.001-08:00

We're having lots of dress up time here lately! All about the sparkles and pink. And thanks to our friend Yvonne, even high heels now!

Countertops!

2011-01-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

First there were none....

And then there were some!!!

Much prettier in person. Very happy with how the kitchen is coming together!

Still Christmas

2010-12-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

Harper is not quite ready to give up Christmas yet. She had to find a place to hang the stockings and candy canes. Oh, and she has this book that plays Jingle Bells in one of those high pitched mechanical noises that could make a person crazy. I did get her to help me take down the tree though.

P.S. Look out the window... our snow is finally melting! I'm sure that won't be the last of it for the season, but it melted for now.

(Another) Remodeling Post...

2010-12-28T05:17:00.001-08:00

It would be more fun if you could come see it yourself, but since you can't, here are some more photos...

Looking from the front door, we have a doorway to the family room now that you can actually fit furniture through! (Doorway was just 28 inches before...too bad we didn't have this big doorway when they delivered the new couch the other day...) And the dining room didn't grow, but it looks a lot bigger now! (Please disregard the continuing mess... this house is like one of those number puzzles where you keep moving the number tiles to try to get them into the right order. Most of the remaining stuff has to make its way down to the basement to my art area.)

Christmas morning

2010-12-28T03:08:00.001-08:00

We had a fun Christmas. Santa brought candy canes for Harper just like she asked for. This photo is where she wanted pictures of each of them.She liked unwrapping all of the presents...Mimi Ruby and Papaw Mark came over to help unwrap.And she loves her new doll house from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Chuck!

Rudolph

2010-12-23T06:30:00.001-08:00

Rudolph - Harper 12-23-2010, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

I might be programming this kid right...

2010-12-22T05:56:00.001-08:00

Just now over our morning oatmeal:

Harper: Are you happy, Ma?
Me: Yes. Are you happy, Harper?
Harper: Yes.
Me: What makes you happy?
Harper: Mama makes me happy.
Me: Thanks, Harper! You make me happy too.
Harper: You're welcome, Ma.

Seriously, what this kid does just makes me smile.

As an aside, she also talks to all sorts of inanimate objects now. For example: "Thank you for helping me eat my oatmeal, Spoon." According to Mimi, she befriended a speck named Baby Toothpaste yesterday. "Do you like my blankie, Baby Toothpaste? You do? Grandma made this blankie. She can make you one too."

And there goes some more...

2010-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

And the demolition continues...

2010-12-20T07:57:00.001-08:00

The demolition phase is almost complete. Somehow we picked the part of the house to remove that has the most wiring in it.

This is what you see when you walk in our front door.

A Family Trip

2010-12-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

We went to Chicago yesterday to see the Jim Henson / Muppets exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a long drive to go there and back in a day, but we had a great time. Harper loved the Christmas tree exhibit. That tree in the background above was HUGE! She also liked the storm area which was pretty cool. Everything was really large scale... a huge vortex creator, and some kind of lightning generator on the ceiling that made big lightning (and a really loud noise which Harper really didn't like the first two times, but by the third time it went off, she was watching the lightning and thinking it was ok). Harper's favorite part of that area was a part where you could mix colors of light. She got to push the switches up and down to take away different colors of light to see what color her pink shirt would be.

The Muppets exhibit was great, but we couldn't take photos in there. :( Seeing Jim Henson's doodles up close was my favorite along with the Muppet characters they had there in plexiglass cases. Harper liked this felt board display where you could build your own muppets. We pretty much had to drag her away from that one.

We'll have to go back again someday. There was lots we didn't see this trip. Overall, a fun day!

Going... Going...

2010-12-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

But not quite gone. Getting there though!

Another Clue

2010-12-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Harper thought you could use another clue. I tend to think this one gives it away, but then Harper hasn't quite mastered the subtlety of good clues yet. Or maybe we just have a new thing for exposed toilets.
Why rip out a perfectly good bathroom, you might ask? Well, we're just going to have to keep you guessing on that one for now. :)

Hmmmm...

2010-12-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Question: Why would the crazy homeowners (I mean my husband and I in case there's any question about who we're talking about here) install a toilet in their utility room? (I'm having flashbacks to some house we lived in that had a toilet in a strange place (which we removed)... but for some reason I can't remember it clearly.) Answer: No, it's not so they can see the snow outside while using the bathroom.

I'll give you one hint. The picture below is our front entry. The closed door is a bathroom. The room behind that is a dining room.

And in other news, Harper decorated her own special Christmas tree. Multi colored flashing lights and all. If you're looking for the ornaments, look very, very low...

We might be getting a little carried away...

2010-12-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there were some homeowners who just didn't know when to quit remodeling. They started with some cool ideas about moving around existing kitchen cabinets so they could have a bar, more counter space, AND an island...But then take about ten big steps backwards and look again... be careful not to trip over all the stuff sitting around. Oops, those crazy homeowners just took a wall out. And now they just don't know how to stop. Watch out! :)

Update!

2010-12-03T14:57:00.001-08:00

I know you want to see pictures of our sweet girl, but... you get to see pictures of our in progress kitchen remodel instead.

Here's the before:Here's post demo, pre-tile:Here's the tile:And now you have to wait just like us to see how it turns out. We have a lot of work to do now that the tile is laid. (Including darkening the grout. It's too light!)

Since you were so patient, you get a reward:

A Long Overdue Update.

2010-11-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Kind of working in reverse chronological order:

Doug got a new toolbox, so Harper got a new "house". Hello, Harper!
We dressed up in our finest to go pony riding. "Good pony," says Harper.Harper spent some time playing in the fall leaves. Papaw Mark took lots of good photos.While I was gone for a work trip, Harper had a fun Halloween. This photo kind of breaks my heart - seeing her interact with pre-school kids like a big girl just makes her seem too grown up too fast. Her first variation of cowgirl costume... This was the day she said she didn't want to be a cowgirl, she wanted to be Harper. I think she warmed up to the idea of being a cowgirl when she saw the other kids all dressed up.The second variation of the cowgirl costume... Mimi Ruby said that Harper said, "Thank you very much" when she got candy. Sad I missed that too.Harper likes to put on her "fancy" dresses. Whenever we put one one, she says, "I am beautiful! I am beautiful!" while spinning around in circles. This photo below I'm holding for blackmail someday if Harper tells me that I don't know anything about style. ;) The special bow on top was her idea.

I'll try to post updates more often. Right now we're enjoying being busy around here. Harper has been painting, playing with Play-Doh, drawing, and generally keeping busy. Her favorite movie of this very moment is Snow White, but Toy Story is still at the very top of her list, I think.

If she bumps into one of us, she says, "Sorry about that." which we think is just pretty stinking cute.

She's trying to learn to use the potty, but it's slow going. Mostly she uses it right now as a stall tactic before going to bed. What she doesn't know is that Mommy is about to move her bedtime up a half hour to account for all the stalling. :) Actually, last night she tried everything she had in her repertoire to try to not go to bed - "I need to eat... I'm hungry. No, I not go to bed, I use the potty." and even "I want to sleep with you... I want to cuddle." That last one was new. She's not really a cuddler, but I think she knows I'm trying to turn her into one.

Hi!

2010-10-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

I want to remember...

2010-10-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know why this little conversation with Harper this morning is significant... I just know I want to remember. To remember our little moments...

A few days ago, she learned how to open her bedroom door (and that she could stand on her bed to turn on the light switch). This morning I was reading in bed, so this morning when she opened her door she came in there. Here's our conversation:

Harper: Wake up. (while trying to pull off my covers)
Me: I need to stay in bed to sleep. (kidding, of course - I'd been up since 6)
Harper: You HAVE to.
Me: Why do I have to get out of bed?
Harper: We need to go downstairs.
Me: What are we going to do downstairs?
Harper: Look at new carpet.
Me: Are we going to do anything else?
Harper: Watch Umizoomi with the train.
Me: Anything else?
Harper: You get out of bed now. We go downstairs.

So I got up. :) That's it. Don't know why I felt a need to write this down. Probably something about her growing up. It seems like she's grown up a lot over the last few weeks. She has these funny little conversations with herself and with us. She does things like put on my shoes, and then says, "I'm Mama now! I'm not Harper. I'm Mama!" She also put on the play stethoscope from Rebecca and Emmet and said, "I'm a doctor." I like that she's pretending.

She's been testing boundaries too. Trying to see if she can get away with not listening when we ask her to do things. We've had our little moments of having to explain that she can't hit/bite/kick/yell at us. Sometimes those moments are frustrating, and sometimes they're funny. A few times when I told her she cannot hit, she says, "And no yelling, Mama." The list of things that are "not nice" will probably get longer before it gets shorter.

She's pretty obsessed with Team Umizoomi. She follows along with what they ask her to do, and as of the last few days, she sometimes repeats each sentence after the characters say something.

It still seems like she only eats about 10 foods, but they're all healthy foods, so I don't worry too much about it. She's very interested in talking about the foods that we eat (that she doesn't), but she refuses to try them. She actually gags a little bit just smelling certain foods. Actually right now she's trying to feed me part of her bagel, and is insisting "It's good! It's goooood!" I guess she's taking her cues from us.

Time to go get my own breakfast before Harper force feeds me any more bagel. :)

Places in France

2010-09-29T04:11:00.001-07:00

Places in France, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Where I was born

2010-09-29T04:10:00.001-07:00

Where I was born, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Little painter

2010-09-29T04:09:00.001-07:00

Little painter, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Harper 9-22-2010

2010-09-22T09:42:00.001-07:00

Harper 9-22-2010, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Big Girl!

2010-08-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've figured out that all my posts from now until Harper is married (at 30, of course) will say, "Harper is growing up just too fast."

She and I can have little back and forth conversations now that are just pretty entertaining. Well, entertaining to her Mama at least. She has likes and dislikes that she can verbalize. She knows about so many things that she sometimes surprises me with telling me something that I didn't think she knew. She notices every airplane in the sky. She knows the names of shapes that make me smile... oval, pentagon, octagon (and all the usuals). She asks for the same movies over and over again like every toddler, but she can also handle a switch to a new movie if I can't take the old one any more. She understands emotions - sad, happy, scary. So far she doesn't really understand mad which kind of makes me happy. She's a fairly good listener. She sleeps in a bed without sides now. She and I tackled taking the crib sides off one morning, and she was so excited when it was done. She kept saying (in super high voice), "I like my little bed! I like my little bed!" while getting in and out of it over and over. The only wrinkle to that plan was yesterday morning when she locked herself in. I started trying to figure out how to unlock the door with the innards of a pen, but then I asked her if she saw the little button on the doorknob. She said "Yes," and when I asked her to turn it, she did! I'm not sure if that will always work, so we're working on changing the knob. She still likes the outdoors more than I can understand. She talks about the sun and moon and stars and sky and day and night and sunny and dark. She likes storms. Really likes them. She likes a few more foods than she used to. I finally got her to try oatmeal, and in her words, "I like it! I like oatmeal!" She recognizes her name when she sees it. She also recognizes the word water, but only because she sees it on the sidewalk every 50 feet where there's a water shutoff. She made her first painting on canvas (will share when I remember to take a photo). She picked the colors and told me when she was "all done" with each one. She likes dresses and bracelets and girly stuff. I don't know how that happened. But she also loves Buzz Lightyear at the same time, so I guess we're not too far gone into girly. Unless what she's telling me that she has a crush on Buzz in which case we have a problem on our hands. Her bedtime routine is a kiss, a hug, a knucklebump, and a high five. My goodness, I love this girl. She's even more awesome than I had hoped for.

Weekend Fun

2010-08-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

Good times at Rebecca's house in Cleveland over the weekend. Played with Emmet at the park and at the beach. Spent time catching up, keeping the two kids busy and fed, and occasionally tried to rest. See you next time, Rebecca and Emmet!

Rebecca's House

2010-08-20T06:17:00.001-07:00

Rebecca's House, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

New Steel Worker

2010-08-09T13:57:00.001-07:00

Guess who?

2010-08-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Harper! That's who, sillies! She's growing up fast. Last night she came in and announced, "We are here!" Followed by, "I brought you a flower." All of the words were there. What's with the full sentences, my baby?!?

She stood still for a second or two for some pictures.Then she had some "work" to do playing with all of Mommy's stuff that I was working on. Had to take a picture... she literally hung here for three minutes without the chair under her. Happy as a clam.And this is what Harper picked out to wear today. In her words, "Cupcake shirt, shorts like Brookelyn's, seat belt, and boots." And on a very hot day. We had to change that a bit before she left the house for the day.

Hanging Out With Harper

2010-07-27T19:43:00.001-07:00

While I was away...

2010-07-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

While I was gone to art class, I missed our third annual run around in our pajamas and chase hot air balloons event. Ruby took my place though, and Doug took lots of photos.

This last one is my favorite even though it's blurry. I missed my baby while I was gone.

Harper is a sweet girl. This morning she wanted to play her favorite "go to sleep mama" game. I always demand a kiss and hug before I'll sleep (which I got), and then she covered me up. She was quietly saying "close your eyes, close your eyes" and then I even got an unprompted sweet "I love you" as part of the putting mama to bed routine. :)

It's heeeeere....

2010-07-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

A morning hello.

2010-07-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a happy July 4th weekend!

Even More Harper

2010-06-21T13:26:00.001-07:00

That's what you're here for, isn't it? :)

And this is what Harper looks like when she's mad. Still pretty stinkin' cute.

More Harper

2010-06-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

There + Back Again

2010-06-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last week Harper and I ventured on a 12 hour trek from Ohio to Kansas and then back again. We visited with family, and we went to my twenty year class reunion. Harper was a trooper, and all of my class of 1990 classmates were too. :)

And on another note, Miss Harper lined these blocks up a couple of days ago and said exactly this, "I made choo-choo train, Mama." The girl is making up trains (I don't think anyone ever showed her this) and talking in full sentences too, holy cow.

Here's Harper with her elephant from Aunt Julie. Harper talks to it and about it all the time.

And finally, I just have to share my most recent favorite word of Harper's. When she says she wants applesauce, it comes out "apple-boss" instead. Cracks me up every time.

Go store, Mama!

2010-05-24T08:10:00.001-07:00

Oh my...

2010-05-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a long, long time. Well, Harper is all grown up now. She starts college next week, you know. Kidding, kidding, of course. It does feel like time is flying by.

Harper IS doing lots of cool things. She repeats almost everything you say and tries to sing along when we sing (poorly even). This morning we were singing, "Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls." Harper always echoes the last word. Cowgirls!

She's quite the helper in the art studio now too. She likes to rearrange all the buttons for me. Oh, and occasionally dump them out on the floor for "inventory".

She likes to pick up the phone and "call" Grandma... and every other relative she can think of. Oh, and animals too. "Hello, Elephant!" "How you?" "Bye, Elephant!"

She is truly a joy. SO lucky. Ever so lucky.

And now for some interpretive dance to the music of Cake...

A Milestone

2010-05-09T17:55:00.001-07:00

Miss Harper now calls that girl in the mirror Harper! Just a few days ago, she saw a photo of herself and said, "Harper!" and then pointed at herself and said "Harper!" She's sweeter and sweeter each day. I didn't think that was possible. I am the luckiest Mommy on the planet. :)

Flower Child

2010-05-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Mark took this photo of Miss Harper yesterday... thought I'd share it with you. Happy Saturday.

Harper is 2!

2010-05-07T07:49:00.001-07:00

Harper is 2!, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Grandma's Cookies

2010-05-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Grandma

2010-04-29T06:40:00.001-07:00

Grandma passed away on Tuesday night. The funeral is Monday, and it sounds like lots of us will be making our way "home" to Nebraska to say our goodbyes.

I miss you already, Grandma.

Grandma

2010-04-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

I said goodbye to my Grandma yesterday. She's in the hospital and not going to be with us much longer. It's really hard to see her go.

She's the best grandma a girl could hope for - a loving, cookie baking, hug giving, real butter on your toast kind of grandma. I don't think I ever heard her say an unkind word to anyone.

I haven't lived close by to her for a long time, but I still thought of her often. I will miss her so much. I'm glad I got to tell her that I love her and to tell her goodbye.

I'm not sure I believe in heaven for me, but I strongly believe in heaven for Grandma. I know Grandpa is waiting patiently for her, and I know she'll be happy to see him.

Today

2010-04-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

We're sitting in boxes.

Digging in the dirt

2010-04-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

Doug and Ruby planted some trees on Sunday morning while Mark sprayed for weeds, Harper helped water, and I... ummm... supervised. :)

Harper's introduction to worms.

Pony Ride

2010-04-10T18:12:00.001-07:00

Pony Ride, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Fun Day!

2010-04-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

We started our day thinking that we'd head over to the antiques malls in Springfield, but while Harper was napping on the way there, we decided that we'd be so close to Columbus that we ought to go to the zoo. I'd been selling the whole trip up to that point as "oh boy! we get to ride in the car!" (which Harper was buying into by the way), but when she woke up from her nap we announced our new plan to see the animals which I have to admit was received with quite a bit more enthusiasm. At the zoo, they have Shetland pony rides, and after watching some of the kids ride, Harper decided that she wanted to ride too. Here we are waiting in line.And here's our little equestrian on her first ride. She really seemed to love it and wanted to ride again right after the ride was done.Here's Harper and Daddy walking with the puppy backpack. People look at us a bit funny, but that thing is a life saver. Video of pony ride coming up in next post.

We rounded out the day with a short trip to the antiques mall so I could get some "supplies", and then we even went over to Suzy's house to swing and play with Abbey and Isabel.

A big day of fun!

Easter Day

2010-04-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

We got to talk with Grandma and Aunt Julie in Kazakstan to wish them a Happy Easter.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T19:32:00.001-07:00

Yep, she got cuter while I was gone. Happy Easter, everyone!

Wash Hands

2010-03-19T07:44:00.001-07:00

Wash Hands, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Meow!

2010-03-19T07:40:00.001-07:00

Meow!, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Yes-No

2010-03-12T16:45:00.001-08:00

Yes-No, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Funnies

2010-03-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

22 Months

2010-03-07T17:05:00.001-08:00

Harper was 22 months old yesterday. She weighs 25 pounds, and she is 32 inches tall.
P.S. Don't ask about the hair... I just can't win with the haircuts.

Overrun by an Elephant

2010-02-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

We're being overrun by a new obsession in the house. I'm sure everyone who has (or has had) a toddler in the house remembers the obsessive-compulsive stage where one particular thing takes over.

Around here, Horton Hears a Who has arrived. In a big way.

Harper demands "el-pan" or sometimes the harder to decipher "aa-bee" followed by an elephant sound (thank goodness, or we would have never figured out what she was after) from morning until night.

And guess who is her favorite buddy to sleep with now. (Thanks again, Aunt Sarah! :))

Veggies? Blech!

2010-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

So we're not generally a veggie loving family. Harper really started off on the right track eating peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and squash, but she's slowly rejected them all except for the few green beans that she will occasionally accept.

I'm trying a different approach around here. I hunted the grocery store for just about any food that I could find that seemed like a clever way to incorporate vegetables. (I'm skipping tofu and veggie hot dogs for the moment.) Oh, and ways to add protein too, because Harper won't eat much meat either.

So, in addition to Harper's usual toast, cheese, crackers, bananas, apples, pears, and strawberries (oh, and five green beans) diet, we're attempting to add:

Horizon Natural Little Blends Yogurt in Strawberry and Carrot
This one took a bit of adjusting for Harper. She made lots of whining noises when I put just the yogurt in front of her. But when I threw her favorites in there - strawberries and bananas - she had to try the yogurt to get to her fruit. She seems to be getting used to the idea.

v8 Pomegranate & Blueberry juice with Vegetables
This one was an outright one sip and rejected. We'll try again.

Double protein Brownberry bread
Harper has been eating only whole wheat breads since we introduced them, so this one wasn't a challenge at all.

So that's all I've managed to try so far for Harper. Now for Mommy's turn. I can tolerate vegetables, but I don't seek them out. Until now. In the refrigerated section at Kroger, I found this ginger dressing like what they use at Japanese hibachi restaurants, and I tried throwing some vegetables (broccoli, carrot, and red pepper) into the microwave with the dressing. And I LOVE them. Between the v8 fruit/veggie juice and my ginger veggie lunch, I may have even gotten three servings of vegetables so far today. That may qualify as a miracle.

Now for Daddy's turn. So far we've taste tested Flat Earth's Tomato Basil veggie chips that have a 1/2 serving of vegetables per 17 chips (1 serving). And so far, they're passing the test. Now if I could just find a tasty one that had green vegetables in it. The Tomato Basil ones only have tomato and carrot in them, I think. I saw sweet potato chips, but Doug will actually eat sweet potatoes in other ways, so that didn't seem like much of a win.

I'll keep looking. If anyone out there has some really tasty (and hidden) ways of getting their family to eat vegetables, let me know!

I love YOOOOOU

2010-02-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Snow Egg

2010-02-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T06:09:00.001-08:00

21 Months Old

2010-02-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

Here's the little stinker who stole my spot on the couch when I got up to make her the toast that she asked for. Yep, Mommy's a sucker.
And here's a squinty-eyed-why-do-you-use-the-flash-mama Miss Harper at 21 months old in her monster shirt from Aunt Julie!

Cold

2010-02-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

Cold, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

We actually went outside to play on Sunday. This was at the end. My goodness, I love this girl.

P.S. on letters and numbers (below)

2010-01-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

So last night Harper was trying to "help" Daddy with the computer, so we decided to load up this cool little program called BabySmash that I found out about from a co-worker. The program lets your child press all the keys on the keyboard to see letters/numbers/shapes without messing up your computer.

Anyway... Doug loaded up BabySmash, and Harper started calling out the letters he typed. She was so darn accurate that I decided to go get the camera. We were pretty surprised by how many of them she knew.

Then he tried the numbers... it blew us away that she knew any at all.

We haven't really been trying to teach her letters or numbers. (Anyone who knows us knows that we just don't have that kind of energy.) We just tell her what letter she has in her hand (on blocks and Dr. Seuss letter cards from Grandma), and we draw letters on the chalkboard sometimes. She just really seems to love them and gravitates towards wanting to know what they are.

numbers

2010-01-27T18:11:00.003-08:00

numbers, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

letters

2010-01-27T18:11:00.001-08:00

letters, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

I like dip.

2010-01-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

...in the form of hummus or tahini dressing. I like this girl's style.

Happy, happy.

2010-01-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

The other night, I kept Harper up past her bedtime because she was sweet and cuddly. As we were sitting there, she hugged her bottle and said, "Happy, happy" with the sweetest little smile.

I guess I waited too long to wean her off the bottle. :)

Computer Savvy

2010-01-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

The other day, Harper, Ruby and I were in my office. Ruby and I were talking and Harper was playing with a basket of art stuff (poker chips, wood shapes and other miscellany). While we were talking, the computer switched over to the screen saver. Harper very matter-of-factly walked right over to the computer and moved the mouse to "wake up" the computer. She headed back to play. She noticed that we were pretty impressed, so she had to move the mouse seventeen more times to try to get the same reaction.

This morning I wanted to capture it on video, so I prompted her to fix the computer. She went straight over and moved the mouse again. Funny girl. (Video posted soon)

Also in Harper world...
She is still so fascinated with letters. When we went shopping the other day, she was excited to see all the "B"s and "P"s in huge letters on the fronts of the stores. She regularly impresses us by bringing us blocks and telling us the letter. She has A, B, C, O, and Y pretty much down. Every once in a while she surprises me with an accurate J or M block.

More Harper translations...
Yite = Light
Ho = Pillow
Cha = Chair
Laptop = Laptop :)
Faw = Phone

Harper's words...
She can also say: socks, pants, shirt, laundry, clothes, block, again, toast, apple, dip, cheese, green bean, spoon, puddle, wet, potty, wash, hands, elbow, knee, toes, hair, ears, eyes, teeth, belly, read, book.
[Edited 1/24 - forgot some words] bunny, hop, hippo, elephant (sounds like ell-pan), giraffe (sounds like jaff), mouse, cat, kitty, puppy, draw, ride, block, ball, kick, eat, play, nose.

Oh, and she yodels. Really. It's something like this: Yo yo yo yo yo yo eee who. With an emphasis on the hee part.

Yet she still refuses to say diaper. She's heard that word multiple times per day since she was born, but still won't say it.

Hea-bee (Heavy)

2010-01-11T07:13:00.001-08:00

MVI_2157-2, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

More at the flickr site. :)

Christmas

2009-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the houseThere was one creature stirring who looked a little like a mouse.Here are a few shots from Christmas morning. I have more to share including videos and some from Grandpa Mark too. Harper had a great time riding her new tricycle, drawing, building, and playing tea party.

Schnao

2009-12-23T06:34:00.001-08:00

Just so they don't get left out of the "baby book"...

Owaa = Orange

Schnao = Snow

Oh, Miss Harper + Harper Translated

2009-12-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I ask Harper to smile for a picture, I get this...

And sometimes I get this...
Here's Harper's latest words and the translation...

Pail = Pretzel

Paul = Puddle

Ny-Ny = Blanket (her night-night blankets)

Cho = Cheerios

Gwee Bee = Green Beans

To = Toast

Bree = Tree

Tar = Star

And I swear she was yodeling this morning. She says "A-B-C", and sometimes if you say "N", she says "O-P". If she sees a heart or you ask where her heart is, she pats her chest and says "bub-bub". (Ok, I admit, that's more of a trained monkey trick - our fault, of course.)

She will also repeat almost anything you say, so watch it!

P.S. Thanks for the box, Aunt Joy and Uncle Tedd! :)

Treasures: Part 2

2009-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I couldn't handle tripping over all of the antiques mall treasures sitting around here, so Doug got out the ladder, and Ruby and I arranged all the stuff onto the front entry ledge. Ruby let me borrow her typewriter as the finishing touch.

And one other antiques mall treasure - some adorable little wooden animals for Harper.

Treasures

2009-12-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

Life has been kicking my butt lately. Despite the workload that makes me want to cry if I think about it too hard [Don't worry... I've got killer coping mechanisms that as of yet do not include alcohol amazingly enough], there has been so much going on that I want to share that I decided just now to stop and get it out there before I build up any more!

With that said, we have to go ALLLLL the way back to October again so I can tell you about some awesome treasures.

In October, we were driving the 11 hour drive to Alabama to visit the beach, and we were about 20 miles from our destination when I spotted an antiques store with a globe sitting outside along with some other furniture on display. I made some kind of "OooOOooOO, A GLOBE!" exclamation along with a "Can we stop??!!" We didn't stop, but Doug did make a promise that we could go back and check it out on another day. He lived up to the promise, and after some hunting around the store (it wasn't outside this time), there was THE globe. Better yet, it was huge and metal and all kinds of cool. And just to top that - it was only $18. "It's MINE, ALL MINE!", I exclaimed. The photo really doesn't do it justice. It's just plain enormous, and hand detailed and wonderful. On our way out, we asked the owner where he had found the globe, and he said that his brother found it in a dumpster at a nearby school that was being demolished. Sad for the school, but YIPPEE FOR ME!

We celebrated my 37th birthday on our beach vacation. My husband coordinated a wonderful surprise for me - an autoharp. See this post for background about why this is such a sweet and thoughtful surprise. I'm enjoying learning how to play when I can. Once it was tuned, there wasn't much to making it sound nice, now it's just the making it sound like an actual song that's the work.

Next on our list of fun-ness, here's a photo of our tree.

It looks pretty good, but it will look better with presents under it!

Doug and Mark painted the entryway and the living room while Harper and I were gone to KS and WA, and it looks SOOOO much better.

Inspired by the new paint, I finally started putting up some photos on the wall. I have a little grouping up now, but the plan is to cover the WHOLE WALL. You can't see it so well in the photo, but I'm going to intermix vinyl wall lettering with the photos to break it up a bit. So far we have "dream" up on the wall.

Yesterday I took a break from the madness and went shopping at the antiques mall and at IKEA. A perfect day of rustic and modern - my favorites. I brought home some interesting finds (yep, linen covered mannequin included) to decorate our front entry ledge. Right now Elisabeth (the mannequin - her name is on her neck) is resting in the front entry waiting to be moved up to her new perch along with the suitcases and who knows what else.The chair below is just about the only thing I didn't buy, but I so covet it. We're headed towards a black, white and neutral color scheme around here. I was going to do a whole bright color scheme, but then we went on a historic home tour last weekend and I fell in LOVE with one of the interiors that had mostly black/white/neutral colors. SO... how long before I go back for the chair, I wonder?And finally, I can't leave our biggest treasure out of my update. She's so cute and so grown up that some days it literally hurts. [Sorry for the horribly lit, blurry photos - 19 month olds don't exactly wait around for you to adjust the lighting. They don't exactly hold still long either.]

Harper seems to understand so many new things lately and new words are popping up left and right.

Lately she demands, "Draw! Draw!" or a slightly less understandable "Color! "Color!" (sounds the same as her word for towel to me) and forces a crayon or piece of chalk into your hand. We're working on politeness, but we're realizing that in her mind it's kind of a separate subject. We ask her to say "Please" and she refuses, but whenever we're done with the activity, if you ask her to say "Please", she says, "Peeeees" without any trouble.

She got five little tops while we were in Kansas, so another favorite is "Top! Top!"

She has a word for "sun" that I really couldn't begin to spell, but it's the same word every time. Some of her new words: balloon, tree, cup, cat, tray (from her high chair). I love listening to her baby babble when she's playing by herself. I can only imagine what she's pontificating over.

She still says all the old words/names: One of the funniest to me though is still how she talks about Papaw Mark. We go through all of our names, Mama, Dada, Grammy (MiMi), Grandma, Grandpa, and then when we get to Papaw, she says, "Papawwwww" and does this guffawing-chuckling thing that Mark always does. Never fails to entertain.

Anything that resembles a purse - pretty much anything with a handle long enough including buckets gets hitched over her arm and carried around. She loves to collect things and then take them out.

That's it for me for the moment. Back to work!!

Harper 12-04-2009

2009-12-04T16:52:00.001-08:00

Harper 12-04-2009, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

Life is a Whirlwind

2009-12-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

[I apologize in advance for the image-heavy post, but we have a lot to catch up on!]

Where does the time go?

November was a whirlwind of travelling to Kansas and Washington for business trips and grandparent visits and then an overwhelming amount of work since then.

Here's Miss Harper in the Cincinnati airport eating one of her new favorites - pretzel sticks. We had quite an airport/airplane adventure which included lots of fun getting through security (I forgot to take off my shoes) and then lots of Harper wrangling. Oh yes, and the leaky diaper on the airplane. I had managed to pack tons of toys and entertainment, but no extra clothes. What was I thinking?

Poor Miss Harper got off of the airplane in only a sweater, socks, diaper and blanket. Fortunately I had stuffed her pajamas into the top my suitcase just before we left, so I managed to extract those from the suitcase once we retrieved it. Harper didn't sleep on the airplane, so she crashed for the ride in the rental car from Kansas City to Hiawatha.Harper got to play tea party with her cousin Brookelyn. They liked each other for the first day at least. Then Harper played with her cousin Zach (Brookelyn's big brother), and Brookelyn wasn't so sure she liked that at all.Halloween in Hiawatha and the kiddie parade was full of ups and downs, but mostly a success. Harper would have liked to wander out into the street with parade and was a wee bit upset when we wouldn't let her.Harper hanging out in Grandpa's chair "reading".Harper laughing because Grandpa put a napkin on her head. Then my Mom, Harper and I set out on our adventure from Kansas to Washington. Harper made a new friend at the airport with a little guy who was born just a few days after she was. He ran; Harper chased. It seems too early to chat with my little girl about not chasing after boys. Looks like we're in for trouble.We got to see some of our favorite people! Here's Harper with Aunt Lea and Uncle Dave at the mexican restaurant. Harper was keeping the whole restaurant entertained.
Harper got used to spending lots of time in cars and airplanes. Well, maybe not completely used to it, but at least we got better at it each time.
Somehow I didn't manage to get a photo of Harper with Grandma and Grandpa, so I had to go dig this one up from their trip out to visit us in September. (Harper, I'm still sorry about the haircut.)

That brings us up to now. Life has been busy, but we've been sure to stop and watch how fast Miss Harper is growing up. She's getting more independent and likes to hang out. She has quite a sense of humor which seems to range from Three Stooges "nose honkers" that her Grandpa Mark taught her about to thinking that the cat's tail is pretty darn funny.She likes to sing and chatter.And sometimes she stumbles and falls down, but she's usually quick to get over it.We put up the Christmas tree (the only decorating that's going to happen around here for the holidays, I'm afraid), and Harper is pretty entertained by it. One of her favorite words is "ball", so having a tree covered in them is good stuff in her world.She's growing up before our very eyes. And we're trying to soak it all in.

Crazy...

2009-10-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Deep breath... inhale... exhale... repeat.

I am a wee bit on the coo-coo-birdy side today because I have packing and work and planning and fun and friends on the brain.

Miss Harper and I are headed out tomorrow morning for a big two week adventure. We're going to Kansas for a week and then Washington (state) for a week. All in the name of business, but we're squeezing in as much fun as possible along the way.

This post is an attempt to stop freaking out and to start enjoying the ride. It's going to be a lot of work navigating across the country with a toddler, but I'm starting to look forward to it.

I'll try to take photos so I can bring back some of the fun to you too!

October

2009-10-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

I can't help myself

2009-10-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

I was going to wait until the weekend to post photos, but I can't wait that long to share. :)

So much to share, so little time...

2009-10-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have tons of beach photos and beach stories and beach treasures to share with you, but there simply isn't time until later in the week. Here's at least one photo from Grandpa Mark's collection to tide us all over.

We ARE still alive...and occasionally wet.

2009-10-02T07:53:00.001-07:00

While I was in Missouri last week, Grandpa Mark sent pictures of Miss Harper playing in puddles. :)P.S. My cousin George is getting married to the most wonderful Natalie this weekend. Sending love and hugs to you both. :)

Harper 09-18-2009 16 months+

2009-09-18T07:13:00.001-07:00

Harper 09-18-2009 16 months+, originally uploaded by shellypaints.

County Fair Time

2009-09-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

This girl would have climbed right in with the cows if we had let her.

She also now says "animals" but it sounds like amm-mi-mull.

I haven't given much of an update lately on what Harper's up to, so I guess this is as good a place as any. Poor girl is going to have to live with her virtual baby book because this is the best I can manage!

Harper's "words" at 16 months: Harper (Haa-paaa), apple, book, animal, baby, bubble, hi-ya, bye bye, mama, dada, more, ball, banana (nan-naaa), march (this one sounds just like ma, so you have to see the accompanying high stepping to go along with it), "that" (a multi-purpose word she uses with pointing), ba ba (bottle), up, down, go, MaMa (Grandma - accompanied by pointing so I know it's Grandma and not me), PaPa (Grandpa), MeMe (Grammy), PaPaw (distinctly different than PaPa for my dad) often followed by huh-huh-huh laughing because that's what PaPaw does, Jack (for her favorite Jack's Big Music Show), TV (bee bee), and Yippeeeeeee!

Harper's animal sounds at 16 months: Animal sounds for cow (lately occasionally with do-do-do singing for the Hershey singing cows), sheep, wolf, duck, chicken (doo-doo-dooooo for the rooster), frog, bird, pig (sounds like nock-nock), horse, snake

Harper's antics and activities at 16 months: climbing stairs, opening and closing cabinet doors, running outside, standing on her tippy-toes to reach things, asking for a book at bottle time, spinning around to get dizzy, stacking blocks (a recent activity - she was only content to knock them down until lately), "singing", dancing, getting the TV remote and clicking her tongue or saying Jack to try to get us to let her watch her favorite show, twirling her finger in the air at the ceiling fan if it isn't on, points at her mouth and says "mmmmmm" if she's hungry

Harper knows where: her hair, ears, teeth, tongue, toes, belly, and nose are

Harper's favorite foods: bananas, strawberries, apples (the diced, cooked baby kind), pears, french toast with syrup, cheese, applesauce

Harper tolerates these foods because we keep putting them on the tray: pasta with red sauce and veggies, toast, cheerios, ham, turkey, yogurt

Harper will not eat: anything breaded or not of a distinct shape, anything spoon fed to her unless she's in the mood

Look Who's 90!

2009-09-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

My sweet, sweet grandmother (AKA Grandma Freckles)... that's who's 90! She celebrated her big milestone with friends and family today. We couldn't go, but sent a card and a photo of Miss Harper. We're thinking about you on your special day Grandma!

Sweet Girl

2009-08-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she's almost 16 months already.

Remember us?

2009-08-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're still alive.

Harper and I went to Pennsylvania to visit my sister and her family over the weekend with my Mom and Dad. Harper was a pretty good little traveler.

Mom and Dad are here visiting until the end of the week.

While we were in PA, I let someone cut off Harper's hair. I am so sorry, dear baby. I did not know that woman was going to chop off your hair and make all of us cry. It will grow, sweet girl. I promise.

Before the PA trip, I went to the emergency room. That little trip was kind of the beginning of my blogging lapse. I was having some abdominal pain for a couple of days and finally went to a doctor. That doctor sent us to the emergency room convinced that I needed to have my appendix out. The ER doctor thought there was a good probability that needed to happen too and ordered a CT scan. Thank goodness for modern technology because it turned out to be only a burst cyst on my ovary. After a couple more days of pain and fatigue, I was pretty much back to normal. Here is a really bad photo of me with bad hair and no makeup in the ER. Looks like I let the same woman who cut Harper's hair cut my hair.

And now I am feeling a little bit under the weather with the sniffles. I'm hoping that whatever it is, it is short lived. I'd like to get back to things being a wee bit more normal around here.