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So I keep trying to upload a video but it's not working. I thought it would be funnier for you to hear what Harper got for Christmas over just seeing a picture; unfortunately a picture will have to do.

So here's Harper and his drumset! It is so cute. He just bangs away. We have moved them to his room so the noise is somewhat contained. He's too short for the stool so he just stands at them. And he's figured out the foot pedal so he steps on it every now and then. But he can't do it all at once. He'll get there one day!

Like all kids, he was enamored with the tree. Here he's just scheming about what he could do. "Grab the lights, pull the ribbon, or shake the branches."


He did good though about not messing it up too much. 'Tis the reason I kept the decorations simple!

He did love however Grammie's (Zeb's mom) tree. He would throw a cat toy in the tree and then just laugh as the cat ran up to get it. Mrs. Deborah decided to forego decorations for the most part this year!

This was a present from Nana and Pops. A battery powered four wheeler. I could not stop laughing everytime he got on it. He couldn't figure out that the trick was to hold the button down for continuous movement. He kept jerking himself back every time he pushed it. He made it down the drive way one push at a time.

Here he is putting to use his gift from Grammie and Grandpa. They got him a set of garden tools- just his size. He loves to rake leaves. The set included a hoe, a shovel, a leaf rake (as seen here), and a rake for dirt (could that also be called trowel?). I think the goal is to start a small garden at their house this summer, which he'll love. Any excuse to play in the dirt and be outside!


They also got him a tool set. It is for play but it looks so professional. He spent 30 minutes wandering around the electric screw driver. He was so busy working on the fireplace. A screw here and another there. Mike cut him some boards which he now has to work on.





This was new year's eve. Zeb and I planned to watch a movie and bake some cookies after Harper went to sleep. In the middle of the movie and just as the first bite was about to be taken he woke up! Sure enough he spotted the cookies. So we all had a new years cookie. Not to worry though, he did not eat it at midnight. It was about 10:30 or 11 and he did go to bed shortly after a clean up and teeth brushing.

Saturday January 3rd, zeb and i headed out for a ski trip in Winter Park, CO. We went with a group of people from church. It was a 20 hour van drive. Somehow the trip home ended up being 24 hours. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had such a great time. It was our first time to leave Harper. It wasn't as hard as i thought. i cried a little bit the night before and the next day i was fine. We are now hoping we could go back every year!

16 months

hello everyone! hope things are well as you anticipate thanksgiving. zeb and i are excited because cade we be able to make it home for that weekend. for those that don't know, cade has been stationed at fort benning, georgia for boot camp. we haven't seen him since july when he left.

in harper news, he's still as cute as can be. he's a pro at walking and getting better with steps. he does have missteps occasionally. he got his first busted lip because he tripped and just couldn't catch himself. here's his swollen lip accompanied by a little blood. he's tough.

we always joke that he's such a little brute. he is rough and loves being outside. he tries to climb on anything, even his toys. anything that atleast two inches off the ground he tries to stand on it. several times i have walked into the living room and caught him standing on the coffee table with this devilish grin on his face. it's really cute. but i just have to leave the room and he gets down. he finds no joy in being bad and not getting caught. he's at the stage where he's testing us.

since he is a brute, i dressed him as bam bam rubble for halloween. it suited him quite well! we tried to teach him to say "bam bam" but he never did.

one of his favorite pasttimes is dancing. he'll point at the computer for us to play some music. he's a big fan of john mayer. zeb and i especially love his head bopping at the end.

these next pics are from the other morning. he was throwing handfuls of dirt everywhere. about half of the handful would go forward and the other half went backwards, basically all over him! he had no clue.

can you see it in his hair?

scheming to throw dirt on daddy

he's a walker

so i would say that harper is officially a walker. he does still crawl a bit; but he spends way more time toddling around. i could just watch him all day. and he finally started wearing shoes. i only have one pair though! he's always hated things on his feet; he even pulls off socks. so i've been making him practice around the house. he's doing quite well.

he still hasn't said a complete word. he usually gets the first syllable out. he says "li" for light, "wa" for waffle, "pp" for puffs, and "le" for leaf. we're trying to teach him animals and their sounds (it's not as serious as it sounds) with some flashcards. we ask him what a cow says and he'll say "mmmoh". a puppy says "woo" and a bird says "kaa". with the bird sound he raises his arms in the air as if they were wings. dad taught him that one. actually the bird sounds more like "aaah"

a week ago, we had to evacuate so we went to arkansas and stayed with ashley. she has a park directly across the street from her apartment. so harper got to play in the grass and work on walking. and he went down the slides for his first time. he would just giggle. he loved it.

here's a few pics from our trip:

he really liked this.
he loved playing the piano.

"a leaf, mommy"

here's a clip of him walking. the camera gets wobbly. i had to keep him from eating the leaf.

hopefully, i'll soon post a video of his animal sounds.

the big ONE

so harper turned one July 19th. it was your normal burgers, cake, ice cream, and gifts. harper had his own personal chocolate cake. i really expected him to just dig into it; to my surprise, he was very cautious. he would just rake his one little finger through it and then lick it.

he's still not walking. but he is standing up on his own. he'll stand up and throw a ball or just hold a toy. he has good balance. he'll walk when he's ready.

so now i'll skip to the fun part. . . . pictures!!

so i didn't order a cake in time and had to buy one at sams. i thought it would be better personalized. i do not have a future in cake decorating.

yeah for balloons!

blowing out his candle, after the fact.




telling everyone that he is one.


end of the festivities. harper's one!

after all this time!

I know it's been a really long time since I posted. so now i have a lot of news. harper was sick over new years eve with RSV. so we spent the night in the hospital. thankfully, his case was not the worst. he never had to be on oxygen, just had breathing treatments.

now he's 6 months old! he cut a tooth a week ago. i'm so glad the tooth finally poked through. poor little guy, he was miserable. he's finally back to his happy self after being sick and getting the tooth. he scoots all over the place and he's pretty fast. more and more, he rocks on his hands and knees. it's just a matter of time until he figures it out.

and he's starting solids. i've only tired carrots so far. he doesn't like them! he makes the funniest face; but he keeps eating them! He does love sips of water from a cup or his sippy cup.

He's also starting to recognize his name. Sometimes it does take a couple times of us saying it for him to turn his head. But he's catching on. a downside to all his milestones is the separation anxiety.

so here's the best part: pictures!

christmas

cooing in the hospital

a breathing treatment

hanging out

sitting up

mmm, carrots

my first tooth- can you see it?

playing in his exersaucer- he tried to pull his hat off

3 months this Friday!

Hello to all! Hope you guys are great! Everything is great here in Louisiana!! The weather has been beautiful this past week. Unfortunately, I think it might rain in the upcoming days.

In Harper's world, life is fantastic!! He'll have these little coo conversations with us. And he's started to somewhat mimick the coos we make. so much fun! He's getting stronger everyday. He is insane on his tummy with his mini-pushup. He'll start getting his legs going too. He'll scoot himself all over the blanket- except his face is just planted! He gets a little carpet burn from it! He can't get his arms going yet. He also now pushes up on his legs. We'll sit him and hold his arms up to help pull him up but he gets up on his own into a standing position.

Here's the best part - some pics!

My mom couldn't resist this costume.


He's trying to suck his hooves.

Can you see his tail?

He has officially found his thumb!

His first trip to the pumpkin patch.

well i could just post pictures all day! there are too many cute ones!

2.5 months

Time flies when you have a baby! Days seem like hours. Zeb and I are still enjoying every minute of being parents. I have to admit sometimes I get tired or a little stressed but then I remember he won't be this little forever and i should just enjoy it. I'm always so amazed at watching how he develops. He was this baby who slept all the time and has turned into a cooing, smiling person who recognizes me and zeb.

It's also so funny when he discovers a new sound. He has this new one, I can't describe it, but he makes it all the time now. I'll hear him in his crib while watching his mobile just making his little noises. Another exciting milestone, he has started to bat at his toys. A couple of them make noise and hang on his car seat. I love to be driving and hear them jingling. And he is constantly sucking on his little fists; I just see as him discovering his hands. No thumb yet. A couple of times he got his thumb in his mouth though and just made this face like it tasted bad! He tries and tries to stick his whole hand in his mouth.

Two weeks ago were his two month shots. It didn't go as bad as we thought. Actually it went quite well. Zeb had to comfort Harper and me since we both cried while he got the shots. Thankfully, we had a good nurse who was really fast at giving them. He stopped crying as soon as zeb picked him up. He was really quiet on the car ride home. I thought he was asleep but zeb said harper was staring him down! I guess he was little upset with us! However, you could never tell later in the day that he had the shots that morning. Even though all went well, I know we have to do it again in two months! I'm still not that relieved.

One of the most commonly asked questions is "is he sleeping through the night?" We're on our way there. He now sleeps from 10 to 3, then 3 to 5 (or 6), and then he's back out until 8 or 9. So he's not doing bad. Yesterday, he and I both slept in until 11:30!! We were tired. Well maybe not entirely, he woke at 6 and 9 to feed. Not bad though. Last night he slept from 10 to 4 and then 4 to 8. So he's getting better.

So here's some pics:

i love that toothless smile! He's 8 weeks in these.