Harper Faye {9-12 months}

Well here we are, you've turned a year old. A little living timeline in our home, it’s kind of crazy, from here on out, years passing will just look a little different.

We love you so much, I can’t imagine life without you sweet Harper. Here’s a little re-cap of the last 4 months.

9 months

·      You started pulling yourself up over Christmas break, so month 9 was spent exploring the tops of coffee tables and couches.

·      This newfound ability means Hosmer is pretty much within reach at all times for you, which you love.

·      You two have “communal” toys, they are the toys we have given up on trying to separate, a mixture of baby & dog toys. Sorry, it’s just so not worth it anymore.

·      We started feeding you food that wasn’t mashed up. You LOVE bananas and strawberries!!

10 months

·      You are sleeping through the night pretty consistently. Huge win!

·      You are crazy attached to your blankie, you have to have it at nap time and bed time. Or. Else.

·      You’re cruising around furniture now, passing yourself off from couch, to coffee table, to chair and then back again.

·      You can throw toys to Hosmer, you are also very aware of the power you hold over him when you have one of his toys. Its pretty funny to watch.

·      You love going on walks!

11-12 months

·      You are starting to take steps now, still pretty wobbly. You walk around the house with your little baby stroller, it’s pretty cute.

·      You give kisses to us and to your baby doll.

·      You can make the “woof woof” sound and “Rawr,” for a lion.

·      When we say, “How big are you?” Your hands shoot up over your head.

·      You know your “piggies,” are your toes.

·      You say “Mama, Dada, Dog, Hi and I think bottle.”

·      You are full on walking about a week before your birthday!!

·      You are a great eater, you love cereal bars, any kind of fruit, veggies, cheerios, sweet potatoes and more. We are just now starting to introduce you to cheese and meats.

·      You laugh when we laugh, just want to be in on the joke. Its pretty adorable.

Whenever I was pregnant with you, we would pray that you would be a joyful person and that when other people were around you that they would sense that and they would become joyful by proximity. That joy would be spread. Harper, that is you completely, I see it everyday, even the grumpiest old man in Wal-Mart can’t help but smile when you start talking to him. It’s increased my faith watching Jesus answer that prayer.

We love you, you’re the best. Happy Birthday!

Mom & Dad

Harper Update: 6-8 months

Harper, 

So I am progressively getting worse and worse at documenting your life. There are million bloggers out there now --- most with children, more stay at home moms. And really with them? HOW IN THE WORLD DO THEY FIND THE TIME?!? You're napping and I just dusted, vacuumed and went through a giant stack of mail that had been teasing me for about 3 months. And I call that a win. I'm feeling good, so I'm about to tackle some of your accomplishments. All meshed together into one big ball of 6- almost 8 months. Blah! 

• You're sleeping great in your crib! And you like it!! The heavens are opening and angels are singing -- 3 months ago I never thought I'd live to see the day. 
• ^^^ This leads to mine and your dads sleep. Cue the heavens one more time. 
• You started scooting probably around 6 months and now you're crawling!! BAH!! How fun! You're into everything.
• Like really Harper everything. How is it you KNOW the things you are now supposed to have? Your dad and I found an old remote and we have tricked you into believing we use it. When we "catch" you with it we say, "Oh no Harper how did you get that?" "Harper thats not yours," then set it on the other side of the rug where you can obviously crawl to it and we do it all again. It's become your favorite thing. And we laugh at our genius parenting moves -- this is one area we are winning at. 
• You are eating food now!! Real live baby food. Eeee! You will eat pretty much any of it. You especially love sweet potatoes and pears. Yum! I always try your food first and it grosses your dad out. But hey, I'm not gonna feed you anything I wouldn't try myself. 
• You also eat mum mums and puffs. You love snacking! 
• You can sit up un-attended 
• You LOVE bath time! You just figured out how to splash water everywhere.
• You are so full of giggles! You also think I am funnier than your dad. Which I find really funny! We can be doing the exact same thing and you'll be belly laughing at me and when he does it you just give a little smile or a blank stare. We share the same sense of humor --- this is gonna be fun. 
• ^^ One day you'll realize he's actually funnier, until then I'm gonna relish 
• The lady at church called you the star of the nursery -- and it melted my mama heart. So stupid I know. Because I don't really even know what that means. But it's gotta be good. 
• We had you dedicated at church in October, you ate up the spotlight! It was so cute. 
• You just love people Harper -- it's so fun to see. I don't think I've ever met a baby as social as you. I hope when you grow up you're the same way. That you just LOVE everyone. You have a big heart, I can already tell. :)
• You basically outgrow everything I buy you. So I am kind of dressing you in the same outfits over. and over. and over again. 

My heart couldn't be bigger for you. I love you more and more each day. It's so fun watching you grow up sweet girl. Your dad and I feel so lucky to be your parents. 

Love you, 

Mom 

4 and 5 Months

Harper, 

I skipped month 1 and 2, wrote month 3 and am combining months 4 and 5. So goes this season of life. I am holding out on the fact that one day I'll be glad I did this and you'll think it's a sweet keepsake. 

Luckily -- I wrote down what you were up to at the 4 month mark. So glad I did or all your little accomplishments would be meshed together. 

Month 4: 

• You're rolling over! Front to back,  and you're whining less and less during tummy time. The trick is distraction, so sometimes I'll put my phone in front of you and just scroll through pictures. Pretty much all of yourself, but I don't think you know that. 
• You are talking ALL THE TIME!!! When I walk past a mirror you squawk at the reflection. And when I get off work you just chat up a little storm at me, I kind of think you think you're telling me all about your day. Which is pretty adorable. You're gonna be a chatter box. 
• You love toys, they go straight to your mouth of course, but you've mastered being able to hold them there. Good job!! That's some serious coordination. 
• You suck on your paci string too, which kind of grosses me out, but I don't really know how to stop it. And you can't not have the paci string because then you'll drop your paci everywhere. OY. I'll figure out this conundrum one day. 
• You're waking up twice in the night now. Ya!! Your dad goes in and takes care of you at 1 am and then I take the 4 am to 5 am shift. It's going good, so don't ruin it! haha. I'm just kidding. ;)
• You don't really cry about much, you have to be really upset about something in order to lose it now. 
• You just started noticing the TV it's pretty funny, you zone in for a few minutes, but then you get bored and you prefer us instead. 
• You still don't acknowledge Hosmer, come on Harper, he's your brother for petes sake. 
• You light up in the mornings!! Ah, walking in your room is just about the sweetest thing! I sing, "Good morning, good morning, good morning to you!" And you just smile so wide! Melts me every time. 
• You're still sleeping in the swing or the Rock n Play. I need to encourage the crib transition again, but last time was a disaster. So we'll see. 

Month 5

• You started rolling over consecutively, you'll go and go until you either hit something and can't move or we pick you up so you can start over. One night you couldn't sleep and your dad (genius) let you do your rolls down the hall. You passed out soon after. You love it. 
• You giggle!! The sound is precious! You are pretty particular about what you think is funny though, I think you think I'm funnier than your dad, --- I'm not, you'll find that out soon enough though. 
• You love to sit in your bumbo, especially at dinner time when we eat. 
• You've started reaching for things that are in my hands now or in front of us. We avoided a disaster at a restaurant a few weeks ago. You're so quick! I'm gonna have to really up my radar on that sort of stuff now. 
• You go in the nursery on Tuesday mornings while I'm in bible study, this is the first time you've ever gone in one before. You're doing pretty good. You're like me, so social you don't want to miss out -- so you really fight the nap in there. But I'm really proud of you, you've adjusted well. 
• Well you didn't like my sleep joke in month 4, you started waking up 6 to 8 times a night!! Bahhhh! Your dad and I hit a wall. Things really couldn't get any worse so we decided to transition you to your crib during that time. 
• We let you cry it out that week when you would wake up. Hardest. Ever!! But you're doing much better now, you seem well rested too.  I'm thankful for that! And you like your crib! Yay
• Tuesdays are my day off and I've come to really treasure that time with you. I let you take your afternoon nap next to me in our bed. I work on my cell group lesson or something like that and you sleep. It's really sweet, I love having you next to me. I should probably encourage your naps in your crib but you won't be this little forever. 
• You're in the 30th percentile, so thats good! You're moving up in your weight class. 
• You notice Hosmer now and smile so big when you see him, I'll throw his toy and you'll track him back and forth. It's a win win, he loves it and so do you. 

Of course I could go on and on. But that pretty much sums up the past 2 months. We couldn't love you anymore than we already do.  

We chose this verse below for you, something your dad and I talked about before you were born was how badly we want you to trust Jesus, in all seasons. Life isn't very easy and we won't raise you to believe it is either, but I truly believe that if we base our confidence in Him it makes even the most difficult bearable. Trust Him Harper! I'm going to continually speak that over you and it's already challenging me to set the example. 

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought    and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Love you, 

Mom