Raspberry Skillz

I am probably jinxing us right now by saying this, but I've already said it out loud so what the heck? I think Harper is growing out of her all-day crying stage! This week has been better than any since she was teeny. Woohoo!

She still prefers to be held all day, but she's happy to lie on the ottoman and practice her new skillz. Her raspberry skillz.

Reminds me of Sky at the same age, blowing raspberries CONSTANTLY!

I have never seen a baby as proud of herself as Harper is. She practices all day. If she even catches you looking at her, she will give a huge smile and start up the raspberries. It is so cute! Sure, we're all covered in spit but hey--it's baby spit. Normal.

Easter 2011

Easter was almost a week ago, but I haven't been on the desktop to upload the pictures until now and the girls looked so cute in their matchy dresses!

This one is even cuter if you pretend Harp is smiling and not flailing her arms:

Harper's Stuff:

She got a fun rattle, some little wobbly Weeble guys, a "Little Sister" onesie from Papa G and Grammy, a ducky and a new dress.

Sky's Stuff:

Sky got a doctor's kit, coloring book, stickers, a bunny, a book from Papa G and Grammy and a new dress. Oh, and a cute little Zhu Zhu bunny who was smart enough to provide Sky with her magnifying glass to make egg-finding easier.

Sky had fun searching for eggs from the Easter Bunny! They had candy and surprises in them, like stickers and bouncy balls. That blasted Easter Bunny hid them a little too well and we were late to church. If he pulls that one again next year I'm not locking Hero in the garage for the night...

Happy Easter!

Not a Toy

I was doing the usual hall-pacing with Harper and decided to mix things up a little, maybe exercise some different muscles, so I lifted her up over my head. Sky looked at me and said, "Stop playing with her. She's not a toy."

And here I thought that's exactly what she was...so much to learn.

Coupon Freak

My friend Christy has inspired me to become a coupon freak.

Maybe not a real coupon freak...fanatic. That might be a better word for it. I don't have time to become a true coupon freak like the people on Extreme Couponing.

Anyway, I've been clipping (and printing) my coupons and just took my first couponing excursion. Bought $118.78 worth of products for a grand total of:

$27.08

And almost half of that total was spent on Zyrtec for Mike.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

(And thank you, Christy!!!)

3 Months Old! ...and maracas

I took these pictures on the 12th but have been too busy to post them. Come on, Kylie! Sheesh.

Harper is now 3 months old. Holy! I agree--that was fast. And also very slow. With a lot of pacing on my part, and some fabulous arm workouts.

Here she is, Miss America! Look at her, doesn't she look fine? I don't know the rest of the lyrics (are those even right?). Look how much bigger she is! Remember when she was the same size as the seahorse? And now she's fitting into 0-3mos clothes. Aww :)

Now, smiiiiiile.....

Now look scared! Good girl!

She's so cute. Smiley and sweet, and apparently very drooly. Didn't notice that while I was taking the pictures. Haha!

We love this kid. She's still crying a lot, but she's also jabbering a lot and smiling a lot and being really cute in various ways. As far as the crying is concerned, we figure we are half-way done. She's got to grow out of it by 6 months, right? I probably just jinxed it. Crap.

At least Sky has discovered that Harper likes maracas!

Or does she?...

Ode to the Mystery Mower

Dear Mystery Mower,

You mowed my lawn just now. I didn't know you were doing it, because I was helping my kid pee, brush her teeth and get in bed. I heard a mower while we were cleaning up toys, but I assumed a neighbor was mowing their own lawn.

Then I heard a leaf blower. It sounded pretty close. I put my kid to bed, then I looked out the window to see that it was in fact my lawn that had been mowed.

I don't know who you are or why you just did that. Maybe you are a lawn service hired by the neighbor three doors up and happened to mow the wrong lawn. That happened once before and I was able to send the service to the right house, but in my distracted afternoon routine today's mowing came and went before I caught on. Maybe you are just a really, really, ridiculously good looking nice neighbor doing a neighborly favor.

Whatever the reason, and whether you even know you just did it, THANK YOU!

Mike will think of you when he mows the back lawn tomorrow and know that his work was made that much easier!

Honey

I've been sick all week. Coughing, sneezing, imagining earthquakes--you know, the usual. But I felt a little better this morning, so I started cleaning things, doing laundry, making food, etc. Then I started coughing and couldn't stop for about 5 minutes.

When I finally stopped (and popped another cough drop), Sky looked at me with this sympathetic little face and said, "Aww. I'm sorry you're sick, honey."

I am so glad I have a goofy kid!

Lunch of Champions

Me: "What do you want for lunch, babe?"
Sky: "Umm...peanut butter and CHEESE!"

?

Harper's Blessing Day

Harper's blessing was today, and we were lucky enough to have my entire family and Big Nick here for it! Our house rocked! 

Here's little Harper Girl, being adorable (and a little bit blurry...sorry):

And a shot of the whole fam!

Here's one of our little family, taken by the lovely and talented Leisa:

I have a bunch of pictures I want to post from the weekend (mostly from Leisa's camera--thanks for letting me upload those, Leis!), but I only have a few minutes to use the computer now so there you go. 

This was a great weekend and a fun blessing day! Thank you SO MUCH for coming, everyone! It means a lot to us that you all made the trek for Harper's blessing. :)

Oh, man. These girls are going to be bored to tears with only me to hang out with once tomorrow rolls around...

Big Girl

She may have peed on me today, but this picture makes her look like such a big girl! I love it.

Pee and Surrender

Sky peed on me.

She said she had to go potty, so I took her to the bathroom. As I was lifting her onto the toilet she decided to pee mid-air. When I questioned her motives, she answered, "I don't know! I don't want you to be mad at me!"

But I got mad.

I said, "Would you be mad at me if I peed all over you?" She answered, "No! I wouldn't!"

(I decided it was best not to test that answer.)

I sent Sky to her room to wait for me while I changed my peed-on clothes and put the rug in the washing machine. I was walking back to her room to get her dressed and right before I walked in she said, "I give up."

What have I learned from this experience? It's impossible to be mad at a 2-year-old who is telling herself, "I give up?" while sitting naked with her arms folded.

And that I shouldn't jokingly send Leisa a chat message saying I am going to become a Jehovah's Witness so they'll stop coming to my door, which is what I did immediately before being peed on.