Happy Birthday Mommy!

So, I turned 27 on Wednesday... I'm a little cautious about this birthday. 27 sounds so OLD! 26 was a great year. I'd much rather stay 26 forever.

All I wanted to do for my birthday was hang out with Pete and Harlow.

I decided to start a family tradition. We all sleep in the same bed the night before someones birthday. So on Tuesday night we all piled into our bed and had a little slumber party. It was nice to wake up to my little family first thing in the morning on my birthday! Though it wasn't a very restful nights sleep... For being so little, Harlow takes up a lot of room in our bed and I'm pretty sure she threw a couple of punches in the middle of the night.

My day started off at 6am with Harlow patting my face. I guess her way of saying good morning and happy birthday! We turned on Mickey Mouse and I dozed back off for about 45 minutes.

We got ready and dropped Harlow off with Nick, Brianna and Amelia for about an hour and a half so Pete and I could get a massage at Muses. It was much needed and very relaxing.

Then we went out to lynch at Chevy's. I LOVE their hard tacos. :) Harlow likes their tortillas too.



Afterwards we did a little birthday shopping.

And then went home to hang out and be lazy!

Nick, Brianna and Amelia stopped by later that night to wish me a happy birthday and give me a gift from all of them and Rick, Lori and Jessi! Thank you!!

I definitely feel OLDer. This year has a lot to live up to because last year was pretty awesome but I'm looking forward to it!

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We Love the Park!

Harlow and Daddy getting ready to head down the slide.

Harlow loves the park, once she figures out how to walk it will be so much more of an adventure.
right now there isn't much for her to do.
but she loves being there anyway and watching the other kids.

Sleepy baby after a morning photo shoot and a little bit of playing in the park.

Babysitting Cousin Amelia

On Friday morning, I got to babysit Amelia. Harlow loves Amelia. She literally follows her around when she's here. It's pretty cute to watch.

I love that they are both at an age that they can play together. It will be even more fun when Harlow is about 2 or 3 years old. I can't wait to see what great friends they'll become.

We spent a lot of time scattering toys all of the living room floor and watching Finding Nemo.

We ate snacks and had lunch.

And Harlow WOULD NOT take a nap because she knew Amelia was here. I put her down in her crib soooo many times and each time she cried harder and harder until I finally gave it and let her come back down and play.

As soon as Amelia left a little after 1:30 p.m. Harlow passed out in like 3 minutes flat after I put her in her crib. Amelia wore her out!

Amelia (or Brianna) if you're reading this, Harlow wants another play date!

11 Months Old

She has a fake laugh that she does just to get us to laugh.

She can pull herself up on furniture, etc. and walk along the edges.

She has become more vocal about what she wants and doesn't want.

She can walk with help while only holding one of our hands.

She walks with her walker so FAST!

She claps her hands when we sing Patty Cake, Patty Cake.

When you ask her how old she is going to be, she immediately holds up one finger.

She sometimes lets go of the sides of furniture while she is standing.

She has stood up in our bed with no hands for a second or two before falling down.

In the morning she points at her bottle and will sometimes sign "milk" with her hands.

She has figured out the idea of going around or under things.

She LOVES real food. Anything I eat, she wants. And I mean, ANYTHING!

We have been trying to give her a sippy cup but she won't have any of that! (If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them!)

When you say, "splash splash" she'll splash her hands in the water.

When you say, "kick kick" she'll kick her legs in the water.

She has started pushing buttons on her own.

She is [this.close.to.] standing up from a sitting position.

This girl is a dancer! She loves to rock to the beat of a good song.

I blast Michael Jackson in the car and she loves to wave her arms around to the song.

I am in LOVE with the picture above.
Her smile is the best thing in the world.
What would I do without it?

Party planning is underway.
Her first birthday is right around the corner.
I can't wait to celebrate.
I've had a whole year with the best baby in the world!
Love you Harlow Emi!

iPhone picture update

One night Harlow woke up pretty upset and wouldn't fall back asleep in her crib. So we laid her down in bed with us and she immediately fell asleep.





And then this is what her hair looked like when she woke up.











This is a usual morning at our house. Cartoons in bed with mom until dad makes/warms a bottle. Probably my favorite part of my day.





At the dog park. We took Buddha and Gus Gus and hung out one morning with the dogs. She loved it.





Curled up and napping one afternoon.





She really liked spaghetti. We put some in the magic bullet and let her have at it. Pretty cute messy baby :)





She gets brave and stands up in our bed with no hands. But, not anywhere else really...





Last week Harlow's swim class didn't really turn up. She was the only one. So instead she took a lesson with cousin Amelia :)





She LOVES Amelia, she couldn't take her eyes off of her the whole time.

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Park Swings

Last week we realized there was a mini park a few blocks from our house. So we walked over and played on the swing set.


Ummm isn't the picture below the SWEETEST thing you've ever seen!!??

I think the swings gave her butterflies in her stomach. Cause she let out a few unhappy sounds when she went too high or too fast.

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If at first you don't succeed...

We started putting the rocking chair ottoman in the middle of the walk way between our bedroom and master bath so that while we get ready in the morning we don't have to chase the rugrat around. She likes to crawl over to the bathtub and stand up and play in the leftover water on the ledge of the tub.

But she finally started getting smarter and figured out that there was a teeny tiny space between it. So she tried...


And tried again...


Until finally... Success!


Please note the anguish on her face in picture #2 and then the little smirk of happiness on #3.

Now onto figuring out the next way to outsmart my stubborn baby.

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Don't touch mommy's feet!

I don't like having my feet touched. Harlow on the other hand, loves to try to touch them.

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Morning Play Time

We spend a lot of time upstairs playing rather than downstairs.
Our living room is more of the dogs space... sad, I know.
But I can't leave any of Harlow's toys downstairs in fear of a certain bulldog eating them.
Buddha, that is.
Gus Gus is a perfect angel ;)
This is part of the usual morning routine.
7:00 am - wake up
7-7:15 a.m. - hang out in bed with mom
7:15 a.m. -eat first bottle of the day
7:30 a.m. - play of the floor with toys
7:30-8:30 a.m. - mom and dad get ready for the day
9:00 a.m. - yogurt for breakfast
9:30 a.m. - Harlow gets dressed
AND THEN IT'S PLAYTIME!

There is no surface in our house that is safe from the baby anymore.
She's gotten so good at pulling herself up on EVERYTHING!
And now she's taller too.
So everything I placed higher needs to be replaced even higher!

This rocking dinosaur is still the biggest hit of all of her toys.
She loves him.
And as soon as you sit her down on him she leans forward to give him a kiss.
She is pretty sweet :)