Growing Up Colt: A Father, A Son, A Life in Football

Howdy Y'all!

I know it is no secret that I love the Texas Longhorns - and for four years, I thought the leadership of Colt McCoy was amazing.  So many times you hear stories of football players that are caught up in drugs or have alcohol problems and sometimes even worse.  Colt was one of those players that you wanted your kids to look up to - and many adults looked up to him too.  Even the name "Colt" rose in the baby name list - Tony and I actually kicked around the idea of naming a boy Colt.

This summer, Growing Up Colt: A Father, A Son, A Life in Football came out and I immediate downloaded it on my iPad.  I literally just finished it a few minutes ago and I would have to say it was a great read.  You don't have to love football to love this book.  It was a great read about Colt's upbringing and what led him to choose the life he lives.  I recommend this to anyone - even my Razorback friends.

The last couple of chapters in the book talk about the National Championship game - and how he lost feeling in this arm during the first series of the game.  I am sure that game was so heartbreaking for him - but to this day, I still love how he showed God the glory even in times of defeat.



I love this guy's faith!  It really it amazing!





Seriously - check out the book.  You won't regret it!

Toodles!

What a Load of Blank!

Howdy Y'all!

Harper got a Babies R Us gift card at her shower - and I got a 20% off coupon in the mail so I thought I would pair them together and buy this little piano.  BUT, here are all the stipulations on the back of the coupon...

Excludes ALL toys, baby food, diapers, formula, wipes, strollers, car seats, high chairs, swings, play yards, bassinets, infant carriers, safety gates, monitors, breast pumps, furniture, Ameda, Baby Brezza, Baby Jogger, BOB, Britax, Bugaboo, Cybex, ERGObaby, Mamas & Papas, Motherhood Maternity, Nap Nanny, Pediped, Peg Perego, Phil & Teds, Robeez, Tommee Tippee, Under Armour, electronic learning toys, netbooks, tablets, video game hardware, video games, Apple products, FAO products, RobotGalaxy, Buyer Protection Plan, gift cards, photo studios, phone orders, Special Orders, assembly fee, breast-pump rental fee, delivery fee and shipping & handling.

Seriously, I think with all the restrictions above, they shouldn't put Save 20% on ANY one regular-priced baby item.  What a rip-off.  Good gravy!

Oh well, Harper will still get her little piano...I have to make this girl happy, you know.

Toodles!

Texas, Our Texas

Howdy Y'all!

Over the weekend, Harper took her first official road trip.  Granted, she had to come home from Tennessee, but we won't count that one.  :)  And, from the moment we got to Texas, we were busy, busy!

My sweet mother in law refused to let Harper and I drive by ourselves to Texas so we made quite a plan.  She flew to Northwest Arkansas last Tuesday to spend a few days with Harper and then we all drove down to Dallas together on Thursday.  After we got to Dallas to drop off Tony's mom, Harper stretched out on the bed for a few hours to let the rush hour traffic die down and then we were on our way to Palestine.  Finally after being on the "road" for 12 hours, we were home!  Thank goodness - Harper was tired of her car seat and I was just plain tired.  Since it was almost time for bed when we got there, I gave Harper her bath and we tried to go to bed shortly afterwards...however, Little Miss Priss decided she did not want to sleep at Nana's house unless she was snuggled with her mommy on the recliner.  It didn't lead to a great nights sleep, but it was so much fun to snuggle with my little sweetie.

On Friday, Harper and I (and Hailey) took lunch out to my mom's work so she could meet all of her little work friends and of course, I used this as an opportunity to make Harper look super duper cute!  :)  We also took the opportunity to take Harper to my Aunt JoAnne's house so her and my Uncle David could see her.

Later that afternoon, my brother, sister and I went to see Harry Potter while my mom and Hailey watched Harper and Ava.  Harper had two more visitors while we were at the movies - and apparently she slept the whole time.  The little Lazy Bones.  :)  Friday night, my mom and dad kept Harper in their room to give me a good night's rest - and unfortunately, Harper didn't want to sleep for my mom from midnight to 2 am.  I have the greatest parents for giving me a break!!

We had a busy, busy, busy Saturday!  But, when I got up, I found Harper in the bed with my dad.  Apparently, he thought she was too cold and needed to snuggle with him.  I just find this so super cute - I love how he loves his grandchildren so much.  He keeps saying he wants more grandsons, but when I see him with his sweet little granddaughters it is perfect.

First up on the agenda were family pictures with Lee Loveless.  My mom had planned for us to wear some huge hats in at least one of the pictures, but for some reason my niece Ava would throw a fit whenever we had them on...so that was out.  :)  Harper and Ava did so good during the photo shoot - considering he took 320 pictures and they had many outfit changes.  I am ready to see how the pictures turned out, but I am sure they will be great considering there were three beautiful Ward granddaughters in them.

Next up on the agenda was Harper's baby shower.  I am so totally blessed to have such wonderful friends and family members because the shower was amazing!  The cake was adorable!  The candy bar was too cute!  The cake pops were beyond unbelievable!  The canvas prints were like a piece of art!  I loved it all.  I want to thank Ashley Faucett, Crystal Thompson, Lori Blanchard, Rebecca Vasek, Julie Holden and Theresa Bambeck.  Here are some pictures of the spread - it really was amazing.  And, check out this link if you are in the Dallas area for some Cake Pops. 

http://www.facebook.com/cakepopsbycrystal?sk=wall

We had so many friends and family that showed up to the shower - and we were just happy that everyone got to see baby Harper and love on her.  Harper was passed around from person to person on Saturday and I am not sure if she ever opened her eyes.  She is such a great baby (well, most of the time)!  Below is the four generation photograph - and we are also the four Alines - Margaret Aline, Glenda Aline, Angela Aline and Harper Aline. 

My Grandmother and Harper

 My Aunt Linda and Harper

My Aunt Debbie and Harper

 Harper and her Grandmother (Tony's Mom)

Harper and Sims.  Sims was mine and my sister's surrogate Grandmother - we loved her so much growing up.  She was so special to us!  Still is.

Sims and her Girls - Me, Ashley, Ava and Harper

Rylie Beth (Crystal's daughter), Katie (Lori's daughter) and Harper

We really had a fantastic time!  This was just about the only time that Mommy was able to hold her almost all day.  She is a beauty though!

Some of my best friends threw this shower for me:

• Theresa Bambeck - She is always so helpful and makes beautiful things.  The tables looked awesome!
• Lori Blanchard - We have been friends since the 1st grade - I love lifelong friends!
• Ashley Faucett - the best sister ever!  Even if I had 1,000 sisters, she would still be the best one.
• Crystal Thompson - The Harper Frame with my special verse was so sweet - and I loved the clothesline of cute things!
• Julie Holden - I am totally spoiled by her.  The canvas prints were totally amazing!  I am so excited to have them.
• Rebecca Vasek - I couldn't have asked for a better college roommate.  We are so much alike and I am so glad we have seen each other so much lately.

I love these girls so much - I am spoiled to have them in my life!

College roomies!  Love these girls!

All of Harper's Gifts - we had so many that I couldn't fit them all in my car.  Thanks to Crystal, the rest will be delivered to Arkansas in a week and a half.

Beautiful Canvas Prints

Lots of fun toys for Harper to play with.

Lots of Bibs and other feeding gear.

Beautiful Blankets for a beautiful girl.

We love clothes!

 We love Texas too!  Look at all this awesome stuff!

I was wanting some cute burp clothes and my dream came true.  :)

 Oh the diaper changing accessories.

Socks and Shoes, Bows and Hats

Frames for pictures of a beautiful girl.

We are just so blessed!

Special gifts from Nana and Grandmother.

The weekend continued with Harper continuing to meet more and more people.  She was probably sore from all the holding this weekend.  We are so happy to be home, but mommy is sad she only has two more days at home with Harper.  I will have to spend lots and lots of time with holding Harper (so she may be even more sore).  HA!

On our way back on Sunday/Monday, I did get a hitchhiker and Hailey, my niece, came back with me to stay for a week and a half.  So far she is being so good.  I took her shopping today for some school clothes, but I am holding them ransom until I determine she has been good.  haha!  She also has a dinner on the line at PF Changs.  I am sure she will be great.  We are enjoying our time with her and she is a big help with Harper.

Now it is time to love on Harper and play XBox Kinect with Hailey - what a great life I have!

Toodles!

One Month, Already?

Howdy Y'all!

I can't believe that little Miss Harper is already one month old!  It is amazing how fast time flies.  Sometimes it does feel like we have had her forever and then other times it seems like it has only been a second.  One thing I know for sure is that I am glad we get to spend our entire lives with her.

My favorite thing about our precious little girl is the way she holds my pinky and thumb while she is eating.  It really is the sweetest thing.  I love how she gazes up at us while we are feeding her.  My favorite spot is on the recliner with her snuggling on my chest.  I think I could sit like that forever and just stare at her.  Today, we sat that way as well and took a little nap together.  It really is the best.  I have always said I couldn't be a stay at home mom, but I know now that I could (BUT, we would have to have an endless supply of money so I could buy her cute things and go places always so I guess it isn't going to work out).  I can't believe I have to go back to work in a week and a half...it makes me a little sad.  I love spending all this time with our girl.

Here are some pictures of Harper this month taken on her week birthdays - going forward, I am going to continue taking the pictures on the orange chair with the owl pillow so you can see how she is growing.

Harper on her birthday - best day of our lives!

1 Week Old - Still My Favorite Picture

2 Weeks Old - Our Little Firecracker

3 Weeks Old - Isn't this the funniest face?  I love it!

4 Weeks Old - Such an Angel

One Month Old!  We love the owl monthly stickers that Tracey gave us.  Too cute!

We are certainly excited about watching her grow - but, if time could slow down, that would be great!

Toodles!

Heaven is For Real

Howdy Y'all!

My bestie, Laura, gave me the book "Heaven is For Real" for my birthday and I was pretty excited to read it.  My friend Lindy had already told me what an awesome book it was - and she wasn't lying.  If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage it.  It is about a 4 year old's journey to heaven while he was having an emergency appendectomy.  Even if you don't have much time in your life, it is a quick read and well worth the time.  And, if you want to follow the family now, you can visit www.heavenisforreal.net.

Today, Harper and I had lunch with Laura and Harper's future husband, Hayes.  We met at Steak and Shake and stayed for an hour and a half just enjoying our babies and talking about lots of random things.  We were amazed by how many people were there at almost 1 pm on a random Tuesday afternoon.  Harper decided to make her intentions known with Hayes today - do we think it is too soon?

Tomorrow we are excited about having lunch with Melissa and Eno!  On Friday, we have plans to have lunch with the entire Food Merchandise Finance group.  Harper is one popular girl!  She has lunch plans almost every day.  And, for those of you that used to work with me (Segment team) and that work with Tony, don't worry we will get around to seeing you all too!  And, Harper's grandmother (Tony's mom) is already coming up for another visit this weekend.  Without kids, she only came up here once, maybe twice, a year.  Now, she has already been up here twice in three weeks.  We know what gets her here.  HA!

Even though Harper is only 3 weeks old, there are so many things I love about her.  One of my favorite things is how she grabs ahold of my thumb with one hand and my pinky with her other hand.  I just love it.  And, feeding her is amazing too...even at 3 am!  And, I love all the faces she makes...she cracks me up!  How could you not love that face?

I am so ready to get down to Texas next weekend and show this little beauty off to my friends and family.  We can't wait to see you all!

Toodles!

Official - I Really Like the Sound of It!

Howdy Y'all!

Today was the first day that we had some place to be early in the morning - and it was a VERY important appointment.  Today was the day that we finalized our adoption of Harper Aline and we are beyond thrilled!  I dressed Harper in an adorable white eyelet dress with pink trim and I thought she look so, so cute.  Of course, I think she would look cute in just about anything...she has that kind of face.  :)

Tony and I got sworn in while we waited in the lobby to see Judge Scott.  The whole ordeal only took about 15 minutes and Tony was so nervous.  The lawyer asked us questions like - "what is your name, what is your education and job, where do you live and how long have you been married?"  Like I just said, Tony was nervous and he jacked up the number of years we have been married...whoops!  I had to correct him.  :)  I guess that is why I was there.  haha!

Our friends Britten and Scott Hardie came over tonight with a bottle of champagne to celebrate...I love that.   We have the most amazing friends in Bentonville - it sometimes makes us forget that we don't have any family here.

Thank you mom for the Bible verse I have been carrying around me for the last couple of months.  I had strong faith in God and God answered our prayers.

It has been an amazing ride - some ups and downs, but we are so excited about starting the next phase of our life.  We love being Harper's parents!

Toodles!

Home is Where the Heart Is

Howdy Y'all!

We love being home!  It is so much better than staying in hotel rooms and traveling in the car for hours on end.  Since we have been home, we have been very busy though and I am ready for it to all slow down a bit.

Thursday night was not a good night - Harper was super fussy until about 2 am and finally we ended up in the recliner downstairs.  Friday was the first time we had to be up for a specific reason (a doctors appointment at 11 am) and we barely made it.  It was my first time to have to take a shower and get myself and Harper ready and I have to say that I hope I get better with it.  :)  I love this picture below - it looks like Harper is up to something or she is somehow trying to come up with a plan to get out of her doctor's visit.

Her "almost" 2-week appointment went well.  She has gained a pound since leaving the hospital - she is now up to 9 lbs, 6 oz and she is 83rd percentile in both height and weight.  The doctor had one little concern with Harper.  She has this hole that looks like an ear piercing on her ear called an ear pit.  He was not overly concerned with it, but he wants her to have a kidney ultrasound because babies that have these ear pits are more likely to have kidney problems.  We will see what comes of that in the next few weeks.

Harper knew she was having company this weekend so she decided she needed to take a nap during her daily photo session. :)

Her grandmother couldn't wait to get her hands on her and she even brought her a sentimental gift.  It was just so sweet and reminded me so much of Toy Story 3 when Andy passed down his toys.  We are so excited to have such a sweet memento of Tony's childhood.

On Saturday, my mom, dad and Hailey were coming for a visit - the purpose for their visit was to bring back our sweet dog Toby and pick up some furniture we have had in our garage for quite awhile.  My sister and her adorable daughter Ava decided to come as well and they TRIED to surprise me...but, they didn't quite pull it off.  I called my mom earlier in the day while they were on the road and she was so short with me that I had a feeling Ashley was in the car too.  I was right!  :)  It was a great half surprise though.

Saturday night we all went out for a big family dinner at Abuelos...it was us (me, Tony and Harper) with Tony's mom and dad, and my whole family too.  It was great to all get together and have a great meal and fawn over our beautiful new baby girl.  After dinner, we took Harper on her first walk down to the park in our neighborhood and then the cousins decided to all hang out together on the pull out sofa downstairs.

Sunday morning we decided we needed to do a little photo session with the cousins - and some of the pictures turned out so cute!

After the photo session, Harper went out for her first shopping experience.  We went down to the mall in Fayetteville for a couple of reasons - 1) it is an indoor mall vs. the outdoor mall we have in Rogers and 2) Ashley needed some Proactive and that was the closest place we could find that sold it.  The babies did quite well at the mall so Harper must be quite the shopper at a young age!  Tony and my dad cleaned up our garage while we were gone - they put up some shelving and it looks so much better now!  We ended the day with some dinner at PF Changs!  Love that place.  And, I won't even embarrass my sister by telling you all how much she ate.  :)

Today was the day that my family was heading home and a tragedy struck us before they left.  My mom had gone outside and didn't shut the door completely when she came back in.  Then, there was a gust of wind that blew the door open and out runs Toby, our sweet dog.  My family looked for him (on foot, in the car, had the neighborhood looking for him) for 2 hours and we never found him.  I have been in tears on and off all day today...and now it is nightfall and I hope that he is safe out there somewhere.  Poor dog has never spent the night outside before.  I have made some signs with his picture and Tony put them up around our neighborhood.  There are some sweet little girls in our neighborhood that even put up their own signs.  It was too sweet.

Toby, please come home...we miss you tons!

The next couple of days are big days for us too.  We are going to the lawyer's office tomorrow afternoon to sign some paperwork and on Wednesday we are heading to the Benton County Courthouse to finalize our adoption.  They moved fasted on this...but, we are so excited about it.

That is about it for now...sorry it was a bit boring and long.  :)

Toodles!