Harper First Birthday Pics...Long Over Due

So I had a sweet friend take birthday pics of Harper and I have been meaning to post them for the last 2 months but now that Harper is walking my time is somewhat otherwise occupied =)

Harper is 15 months soon to be 16 months and is the joy of our life. She is so vocal and has the sweetest spirit and most joyful countanance. She is everything we prayed for and so much more.

Lately she has been impressing us with her slang terms and her impressive vocabulary hahah

Wow...and COOl and OHHHH and are some of her new favorite words taught to her by her daddy =) She also loves to name all the animals and give the sounds they make. Horses and lions are her favorite....neigh....and roar are some of her favorite sounds. She also says hot, cold, and squinches her face, up, down, ball, cat, dog, no (uh oh), please, spoon, eat, bluberries (or something that sounds like it), more, papa, gigi, EE, purple, pink, baby, and lots more.

She also had been signing up a storm. I am so thankful we taught her sign language because it has helped her to communicate and kept her from getting frustrated at times. She is very annimated.

She loves people, has never met a stranger and loves to dance, and seems to be interested in art, colors, and BABIES. Everyone that is a kid no matter what age is a baby hahah.

She is very tenatious yet cautious and is very happy and easy going.

A funny story of late:

I was putting her in her car seat to go and run and errand and I smelled a strong mint flavor coming from her. I checked around to see what it was and noticed that she had a tic tac in her mouth that she had picked up from the ground and was happily sucking on it. It was pretty funny.

The Great Orchestration

* About a year ago, when Harper was born we started praying about a possible move due to the inconveniences of a 3 story house with a baby.

*We talked to our community group, friends, and family about the idea

* We decided to re-finance our townhome in July to prepare for possible future changes

* We came to a place of trust and no expectation and decided to list our house for sale (we were willing to lose our down payment if need be). It took us a while to get to this place where we could be completely open handed with what God had given us and asked him to work.

*At the end of September we had very little interest from buyers due to poor market conditions and we decided to be open to the option of renting our home out until the market stabilized

* During this time we decided to look at areas we wanted to live in and check out some homes to get an idea of what we would like.

* We looked at about 30 homes and found one that had some great potential and that we loved

* We felt a real peace in this particular home and I woke up one morning a week after the initial visit and just felt a real tug at my heart from the Lord to inquire about it again

* I called our realtor and asked if we could see it again. She called me back and said it had an offer on it but if we were interested and wanted to see the house today they would consider our offer

* Adam and I were a little anxious because in our timeline we wanted to buy a home once our current home was either sold our rented and neither of those things had happened according to OUR plan (isn't that always the case with the Lord)

* We felt a peace about the home and felt like we needed to walk in faith

*Our offer got accepted and we had a 10 day option period where we could get our earnest money back if we decided to cancel

* We prayed during those 10 days that God would find us a renter or we were prepared to cancel our contract on the house. Our realtor thought we were crazy and i am not sure if she believed it could happen

* A few days latter we had a guy knock on our door and tell us his friend from Washington DC wanted to rent our home. Adam told him he needed to talk to our realtor and we were not sure if this was a legitimate inquiry.

* A few days later the couple from DC decided to fly to Dallas to look for a place to live. They were relocating to Dallas and had to make a decision that weekend. They were not aware of our 10 day option period timeline.

* On day 10 of our option period they signed a 15 month lease! Praise the Lord! We were shocked and so very thankful for this gift and answered prayer

* They didn't need to move until November so we had a whole month to pack our stuff and make improvements to our new house! We didn't have to move twice which was a huge blessing!

*The people selling us the house were willing to make $10K in repairs to the foundation. AMAZING!

* The timing of our loan closed in such a way that we don't make a payment until December which means we never had to make a double payment!

WOW WOW WOW...All to say OUR GOD IS THE ULTIMATE ORCHESTRATOR! We feel so very blessed and saw God's hand in every single detail (too many to even mention). We now have a beautiful home (come this weekend) that we can enjoy and continue to raise our family in for years to come. Thank you for answering our prayers!

Happy Halloween

Yes, your right that is a real life UNICORN! We had a fun low key Halloween. We took Harper trick or treating around my parents neighborhood and she quickly caught on. It amazes me how quickly children learn when their is sugar and candy involved =) She was the cuttest unicorn on the block (although she was a bit frightened by the horns before we put the costume on) and had a great time meeting all the neighbors. She also took her first steps (video to come). Adam's parents also bought her a dalmation and flower costume so she had multiple costume changes during the night. It was so fun!

Can't get this out of my head....

Adam and I went to the Holocaust Museum while we were in DC. It was a very sobering and very emotional experience for me. I obviously learned about the history of the Holocaust in school but didn't know the extent to which the Jews and others were persecuted and inhumanley treated. I walked away from the encounter with a deep burden on my heart and couldn't get this quote that was etched in the wall out of my mind or heart.

What will my response be to the injustices of the world, what will your response be? Or maybe what has your response been? I walked away with a desire to educate my children, give of my resources, and be a voice for those that don't have a voice. I recently adopted a little girl from Tanzania and that is where I will start. I couldn't help but think this could have been me, my children, my family. They are just waiting for someone to notice them, to listen and to respond. Lord help us to step outside our own world and see the needs that you want us to meet. Help us to be your hands and feet.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Washington DC Pics

Adam and I just got back from Washington DC. I had never been there before and it was such a fun and interesting experience. We got to go through all the museum's and were able to see all the historical monuments, White House and Capital. It was absolutely beautiful weather and all the trees were changing colors. OH HOW I LOVE FALL!!

We got to go on a Segway tour of the city and ate at some really great restaurants (loved the pizza and yummy slidders at Matchbox, wish we had a place like that here in the BIG D). We also got to eat at a upscale bar in Georgetown called Martin's this is the place where Jackie O and JFK got engaged. So cool and so much history to appreciate in this city.

Here are a few pictures of our trip:

One of the Best Nights Of My LIFE

Adam and I went to the U2 concert a few weeks ago and it was one of the most fun nights we have had together. This had been a dream of ours since we met 9 years ago to see U2 in concert. We got box seats from a friend and it was unbelievable. They were only about 15 feet from our box. They played all their best songs plus some new ones. It was a DREAM COME TRUE!

LOVED THIS!

Somehow, we human

beings are never happier

than when we are

expressing the deepest gifts

that are truly us.

When I started this blog, I did so to provide a scrapbook of sorts, that would chronical Harper's first year of life. I didn't expect that it would also provide an outlet for me to share some of my heart and journey through motherhood over this past year. But I am glad that this little blog has provided place to think, reminance, and grow.

I stumbled upon this quote today and SMILED and LAUGHED because it got me thinking about how much growing, soul searching, and honest introspection I have done over the last year of motherhood. I spent the first few months of motherhood trying to fit into the "Mother mold" that I had seen in books, I spent the next few months trying to emulate other great Mom's that I knew and tried to follow in their footsteps. I was always feeling like I had come up short. I finally reached a breaking point around Harper's 6 month birthday when It dawned on me that God created me unique as a mother and he doesn't want me to fit into someone else's mold. He promises to walk with me and show me how to do this thing called Parenthood and he wants to use my unique gifts, talents, imperfections and quirks to his glory. I am now more thankful for the way that God created me and the way that I approach mothering. I feel more confident in my own skin and love getting to be creative with how I parent, play, and interact with Harper. Some may think I am crazy at times but Harper and I have lots of fun together and that is one thing I know she will always remember about me. Thank you Lord for helping me to embrace my uniqueness and for helping me to be intentional towards Harper in a way that works for me and in the process brings glory to you. I knew I was made to be a mother I just didn't know what that looked like until I actually became one =)