Hoot, Hoot...It's Harper's Birthday Celebration

Howdy Y'all!

Warning:  This post will be full of pictures!  :)

We hosted Harper's first birthday party this weekend - I feel like I have been working on it for months after I put her to bed each night.  What in the world am I going to do with my time now??


The owl invitations - they were a lot of work, but turned out so cute.  I got the template here if you want them for yourself.

Then, the decorating began...Pinterest was my friend when I was planning for the party.  I don't think I would have come up with any of this on my own.

I loved Harper's cake!  We got it from Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville, AR...I love that place!

I made a couple of banners - a birthday banner to hang behind her cake table and a picture birthday banner that we hung on the mantle.  I love how the picture banner turned out and it may stay on the mantle for awhile.  It is made of my favorite picture from each month of Harper's life.

I decided to put the gifts in the foyer as people came in the door so I had to spruce up that area as well.

(the sad thing about this picture is that these gifts are only from us, my parents and my sister)

I was on the market a few months ago for an antique wooden highchair because I wanted to have it painted for Harper's birthday - I love how it turned out.  You should have seen it before - it was UGLY!  It was red and not so cute.  Thanks to JJ Sparkles for making it look adorable!

You can't have a party without food...right?  I didn't want to have a ton, but I wanted some cuteness with it so we had owl shaped sandwiches and owl shaped watermelon (and yummy cookies from Rick's Bakery too!)

I really wanted to have a Photo Booth too so I gathered some props at dollar stores, raided my closet and my families' closets and used the Cricut machine to make a few too.

How cute is the birthday girl?

My parents

 My in-laws

Me and my husband

Me and one of my best friends, Crystal

 Crystal and her husband, Jacob

 My sister, the birthday girl, my niece and me

There were lots of other cute photos at the booth as well, but I am already making everyone look at a ton of pictures so I just picked some of my favorites.

Harper LOVES cake!  I think she could have sat there all day in her highchair eating cake and more cake and more cake.

Our little family!

Then, it was time to open the presents because it was going to take awhile...she got so many presents even after the invitations said No Presents Necessary.  Not one person listened.  :)

Harper's Grandmother and GrandStan (my in-laws) got Harper an amazing gift - a quilt made from her clothes.  Some of the outfits have very special meaning and I am sure Harper will love it so much when she grows up.

We had a house full of people and it was so nice of everyone to come out and celebrate Harper's birthday with us!

I completely forgot about the pinata until most of the kids had already gone home.  Whoops!

To send everyone home with a little bit of appreciation, Harper gave out these little buckets as a party favor.  They turned out cute too...but again, a lot of work!

Harper had been enjoying all of her gifts - and now we just have to find a place for all of the new things she got this weekend.

And, I couldn't end this blog without thanking my parents, my sister and my niece.  I am pretty particular about things so they didn't help a ton with the decorations, but my mom did all of our laundry (lots of it), my sister and dad helped with the food and shopping and Hailey was a huge help with Harper.  My family rocks!

I just can't believe that Harper is 1 and I am sure that she will be 2 just right around the corner.  I love that sweet little girl!

Toodles!

Look Whooooo's the Big O-N-E!

Howdy Y'all!

I can't believe the day has come that Harper has turned one.  This year has flown by - I can't believe how fast!

Harper is a walking machine!  Two weeks ago, she just started walking and hasn't quit since.  She cracks me up because she refuses to crawl even in situations where it would be much easier.  She is a strong willed little girl that has stolen my heart.

She is wearing size 12m and 18m clothes.  The other day I put her in some pants that were a bit tight on the legs and she looked like a little Frankenstein walking around the house because she couldn't bend at the knees.  She is wearing size 4 diapers and a size 3 shoe.

Harper gave up her pacifier on her 11 month birthday and we haven't looked back.  I am so proud of her!  She always seemed to be so dependent on it, but she is doing so well without it.  I must admit that there are moments that would probably be so much easier if I would just pop the pacifier in her mouth, but we have never given into temptation.  Yay us!

Harper doesn't have much hair, but you can see what she has in the picture above...and it is blonde, almost white.  She still has blue eyes too - actually, they are very similar to mine where they change between blue and green.  I love that she has a little piece of me.

Harper doesn't say much - she is pretty quiet most of the time, but she can say Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Dog (she actually says Dog-Dog), Uh-Oh and her newest word is PaPaw.  We were face-timing with my parents a week or so ago and she said PaPaw when she saw my dad.  It was just so sweet.

She has transitioned to whole milk and it was an easy transition.  Of course, I don't know why I would be shocked by this because she will eat anything!  Her favorites include Mac and Cheese and Grilled Cheese...smart girl!  Who doesn't love cheese?  Oh yeah, her daddy!

Harper loves to read books and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins.  She actually doesn't watch the whole thing, but she loves the music in each of the shows.  She loves to clap along to the Hot Dog song.  We have also found out she loves the song Mean by Taylor Swift.  She just sways and smiles when she hears that song.

Harper and I had the best day today - we visited the snails downtown, rode in Mr. Sam's pick-up truck, visited the 5&10, went to the library to read some books, went to Barnes and Noble for a free birthday cupcake and ended the afternoon at a local toy store.  She fell in love with a baby doll so we had to bring her home (she did have a $10 gift certificate and some birthday money from my aunt JoAnne).  :)  She is so sweet with her baby dolls, but there are some things she still needs to learn before she becomes a mom.  Babies don't belong on their heads when they are in the stroller, Harper.

We love you Harper Aline!  This year has been amazing and we wouldn't change it for the world.

Toodles!

Lone Star Fun

Howdy Y'all!

Tony, Harper and I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Texas - one of my favorite spots on earth - with the rest of my family...mom, dad, sis and nieces and even had some time with my brother and brother-in-law.  Our fun existed of water, water, food, water and water.  :)

On Saturday, we never left my parents house.  We all swam in their pool and they cooked steaks, burgers and hot links for us so what was the point of leaving that day?  :)

How adorable is this little cutie with her bikini and chubby thighs?  Her smile is so cheesy, but genuine here and I love it!

Harper loves her cousin, Ava and Ava loves her some "Barper"!  How cute are the two bathing beauties on the float below?  I love the smile on my dad's face - he loves his granddaughters.  He has a special power over the both of them - they LOVE him!  I have to say that out of Harper's 4 grandparents, he would be her favorite.  I need to figure out his magic powers.

Saturday ended with Papaw pulling Ava and Harper around the house on a blanket.  When he stops, Ava goes around the house looking for him saying "Papaw?" and when she finds him, she simply says "More".  Hailey and Ava also helped Harper walk around the house.  Ava was so sweet trying to help out her little cousin.

Sunday brought on a splash park, a trip to Toys R Us, some yogurt and more pool time.  Harper didn't love the splash park too much, but I think it was because these boys sprayed her in the face with the water gun when she first got there.  The poor little girl didn't want to be in the water much after that.  She loved Toys R Us and yogurt is one of her favorite foods (I think) so she had a great end to the day.

Monday we took our time packing and getting ready, then had one final meal with the family and then headed back to Arkansas.  If someone could figure out how to move the Walmart corporate offices to Texas, that would be great!  You would be my hero...I promise!

Toodles!

Look Whoooo's 11 Months Old

Howdy Y'all!

I can't believe that I am less that one month away from having a one year old...where did the time go?  These past 11 months have been a blast (*almost* every minute).

Look how much she has grown since she was one and five months old!  She is a weed, I tell ya!

Harper wears 12m and 12-18m clothes and looks mighty cute in them, if I say so myself.  :)  And, she wears size 3 diapers.

She has successfully been without her pacifier for 2 whole days!  Way to go, big girl.  We took it away from her at night several weeks ago, but we didn't want to fully get rid of it until we got back from vacation.  The day after vacation, we quit it cold turkey and she has done remarkably well.

Harper is finally getting her first tooth - I can't wait to see what she looks like with some teeth in that cute little mouth.

Harper loves to prop herself up on the furniture and open drawers.  She also loves to get into the entertainment center and turn off the AT&T Uverse box.  She thinks she is pretty funny.

And, she LOVES to walk with her walkers.  She has a little dinosaur, elephant and baby stroller and she gives them all equal love.  I love seeing her "walk" her baby down the hall.

Speaking of walking, I feel like she will probably take her first steps before she turns a year old.  She is pretty steady standing on her own and she will take a step toward me before falling into my lap.

Harper loves her dog and loves to say dog-dog.  To keep her attention on the airplane the other day, we were looking through the Sky Mall magazine and my smart little booger was pointing at each of the dogs on the page and saying dog-dog.

She has started giving us kisses...open mouth, slobbery kisses, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Harper loves looking at pictures of herself (and we have plenty to show her).  We will show her a picture and she gets the biggest grin on her face and giggles.  She must think she is as cute as we thing she is!

Unfortunately, she has learned how to throw a fit!  When you tell her no or take something away from her, be prepared for a red-faced, fit throwing 11 month old.  Her grandmother witnessed it a couple of weeks ago and was shocked!  What in the world will the terrible 2's bring?

Birthday party planning is in full swing - the invites have been addressed and now it is time to get them in the mail.  Time really flies when you are having fun.

We love you lots Harper Aline!

Toodles!