some pictures of harper.

My grandma has requested some recent pictures of Harper. Not one to disappoint, here you go:

random ramblings.

• We have hired movers so we therefore have a "hard" move out date. That date is August 12th. Our new address is 315 N. Washington Avenue; Fayetteville, Arkansas; 72701. Add that to your address books people.


• My sister is pregnant. About 17 weeks now (I think). She is due January 7th. I am extremely excited for her and I am eager to be an aunt. I will admit that it makes me wish she lived closer, so I could experience this with her and be there with her as she becomes a mother. I wish I could live close by niece or nephew. I wish we were just closer.


• I feel like an after-thought lately, like I'm not a priority. I know that's lame and pitiful, but it's what I have been feeling. I "get to" take a shower maybe once every 4 days (I don't think I stink, but I could be wrong). Everyone comes before me. I know it's all part of being a mom (and a new mom), but it's still hard. I also know it's part of my "personality" and "disposition" - I tend to put others first (at the expense of myself). I'm always working at pleasing others and making everyone else happy. Sometimes it's a problem.


• I'm tired. At my last therapy appointment, my therapist even noted that I looked tired. Nice. Hopefully I will get more rest and feel more fresh and lively soon.


• Harper is now doing lots of social smiling (which makes me happy). She is working on her laugh. It's not quite there, but close.


• I will be 30-years-old in less than a month. I don't even have the time or energy to really care or think about it - which is a little sad. It should be a "hallmark" birthday, but it just feels like nothing.

I realize most of these ramblings are not so cheery - I apologize for that. I think I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed and worn-out. Once things settle down (in a month or two), things should be better. But for now, it's just a little too much.

reading tragedy.

I have a problem. Well in reality I am sure I have many problems, but this post is about just one of them. And maybe it's not really a problem, but my husband thinks it is.

This problem is that I read sad, tragic personal stories either online or via print and then I get all sad about them.

The stories involve children, animals, or babies. They are stories of loss or adversity. They are awful and unimaginable. I cry when I read them and I take them to heart. They make me hurt.

I don't know why I read them and make myself so sad, but I do.

I can't stop.

The latest one involves a little boy named James who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was diagnosed in late June when he was 7-months-old. He passed away this past Saturday (less than a month after the diagnosis). So incredibly sad (here is a link to their blog).

Do other people do this? Read tragic stories of loss or adversity.

Am I the only one? Surely not.

harper's baptism.

This past Sunday, Harper was baptised.

Many family and friends joined with us to celebrate the occasion - it was truly a wonderful time.

First of all, I want to showcase a "compare and contrast" set of pictures between Harper's baptism and Hayden's baptism.

Here is Harper on her big day:And here is Hayden:Hayden is about 4-months-old in his picture while Harper is a little over 2-months-old in her picture. Aren't they cute? And also take note that I am wearing the same dress. It is a keeper!

Now here are some more pictures from Harper's baptism and the post-Baptism brunch my mom (and dad) threw us.

harper got the bird.

Harper got the bird. She did this all by herself and I was very proud. I had gone out of the room and came back to this.
Go Harper! She held onto that bird for at least 3 minutes. I'm not even sure she was aware that she had a hold of it - but whatever. I am still impressed.

triple anniversary dinner.

This past Saturday we celebrated our 'Triple Anniversary Dinner'. What is that you ask? Well, I will tell you.

Ever since Randy and I were married (8 Years ago), we have gone to dinner at 'James at the Mill' with my parents to celebrate our anniversaries (with our anniversary being on June 13th and my parents' being on July 5th we tend to go sometime in between or at least sometime near the two occassions).

Two years ago we added my sister and her husband Clark to the mix as they were married on June 27th, 2009.

So now there are three couples - hence the "triple anniversary dinner."

The dinner is a nice way to acknowledge and commemorate the relationships (and to just have a nice, special dinner at a fancy, yummy restaurant).

I hope this tradition continues as we mark each year with another special dinner as a trio of happily married couples.

Here are some pictures from this year's dinner:

randy and i. my sister, mary, and her husband, clark.my parents.the carrolls (mary and clark) and the werners (myself and randy).

two months.

Harper Grace is now 2-months-old. She is doing well. She is a lively, sweet, beautiful little girl. She still has lots of hair which seems to be her trademark.

She is also a big little girl (talk about an oxymoron).

She had her 2-month check-up today and weighed in at 12lb, 12 oz. (90th Percentile). See - she is a big girl. The doctor commented that she is well-fed and well-nourished (true). She is almost 23" long (65th Percentile).

She also got her 2-month shots. She cried briefly, but overall was a definite trooper.

Another comment the doctor made was that she should start to roll over at about 4-months, but considering that she is a chubby little girl she might be a little later in hitting that mark (because it's harder for chubby babies to roll over). Hilarious! I was not offended by this comment. It was not said in a rude or inappropriate way - he was just trying to let me know not to be too worried if it takes her longer to roll over.

The doctor also noted that she should be sleeping for longer stretches at night now (especially considering her weight). Currently, Harper's longest stretch of night-time sleep is about 4 hours (but usually it's only 3 hours). The doctor said that she can and should have a 6-8 hour "sleep stretch." So we are going to work on that. I know I would like it (being that I am the one who always gets up and feeds her during the night). So we'll see.

And last but not least, here is a picture I took yesterday of Harper (on her actual 2-month "birthday").

change is happening.

We are moving. We bought a home. This home in fact.
It's an older home (built in 1897) in a great neighborhood. It's bigger than our current home (it's 2847 square feet - 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths). It's in the school district we want to be in. It is a great investment.

We are going to miss our current home which is for sale. (You can go here to see the details of our current home that is on the market.)

It is going to be very hard and sad to say goodbye to our home. We have lived here for over 8 years. This was our first home. This is where we brought our children home to. It's our home - it's not just a random house.

At the same time though, we have outgrown it. It worked for a young, married couple. It worked for a family of three. It's not working so well for a family of 4 (5 if you include Aflie and I do - he is a member of our family).

So it's time to move on.

Goodbye home.NOTE: I am dreading the moving process. It is stressing me out. I am glad that we are moving and I really do like our new home, but the whole process is not my cup of tea.