Harper 11 months old

We are approaching Harper's first birthday. It is hard to believe that our little baby is now blossoming into a toddler and will one day become a beautiful women. The last month has been so much fun and full of many changes. God has been so good to us and we are so thankful that Harper is a happy and healthy girl.

A few fun memories from this month include:

* Her pouty lip face (she pushes her lip out like she is kissing)
* Her sweet laugh when Adam tickles her feet
* She loves playing all kinds of games like peek a boo (she covers her hands with her face), where's mommy (she pulls the blanket off me) and find the toy
* She started using the sign language that we have taught her over the last 11 months, she does more, bye bye, thank you, and all done. This feels so rewarding to me as I thought she would never sign. She also pats her sweet little heart because we say Harper Jesus wants to come into your heart one day, and we tell her we want her to have a happy heart.
*She loves to flirt with strangers and tries to get attention from anyone who will give it to her. She is a ham for sure.
* She is starting to talk and can say, "bye bye, hi, daddy, mommy, ball, bottle, bible, kit kit (kitty) and doggie)
*She pats you on the back when you are holding her. It is so sweet. She loves to give hugs and kisses.
*She loves her little blanket that G-G gave her and doesn't like to sleep without it.
* She has tried ice cream this month and loved it and will eat most anything we put in her mouth including: salmon, chicken, black beans, blueberries (her favorite)
* She loves to dance and does a mean body roll. It is so funny.
*She is pulling up on everything and loves to crawl and explore. She is doing really well with her boundaries.
*She loves to swim and kicks her legs in the water
* She spent her first full week with her Grammy and Grandpa Mike while Adam and I went to Denver for vacation.
*She has been doing a little bit of baby modeling for Haute Baby. Pictures to come...
* She sleeps great and always seems to wake up very happy and full of energy

So many changes, so much fun.

Happy Birthday Veronica!

Thanks V for being the person you are! You have taught me much about strength, consistency, loyalty and love over the last few years and I am so thankful to have you in my life. I am blessed to call you my friend and I know that God has much more in store for our friendship in the years to come. I hope you have a very special day and that you know you are loved!

Harper 10 months

Loving the water and sun
Get me out of here
Riding my horsey
Hey!!

A fun date night idea

I subscribe to the Daily Candy which is a really great website that keeps you up to date on what is happening in Dallas. They have some really great ideas and not so great ideas but they always have something fresh and new to try. A few months ago they mentioned a cool new beach cruiser bike shop called Fleetwood's Kit Kat that had opened in University Park. They offer free bike rides through Highland Park and downtown/Katy Trail on Friday's and Sunday's on a first come first serve bases. I convinced some friends to check it out with us and we were all pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the evening.

A SWEET end to a PERFECT weekend!

This weekend Adam and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We went to Austin, the city we lived in when we were first married. We stopped at all of our old favorite hang outs, reminisced about all the amazing memories we shared there and dreamed of moving back one day...ahhhh Austin is a special place and Austin just seems to represent part of who we are.
t is a fun, down to earth, active, adventurous, city. The people are just so special, no pretense, very relational, genuine and inclusive. There is a unique spirit of unity about the people/city that I haven't seen anywhere else and I have lived a lot of places.
Below is a list of some of the things we did:

Hyde Park Grill: This was and is one of our very favorite places to eat in Austin, we used to eat here at least once a week. It is in a really old house in Hyde Park and is famous for their fries and fresh yummy food. Adam and I had a good time sipping Mimosa's and chatting about life.



4 Season's Hotel: the best location, great service, lush grounds overlooking the lake, comfortable beds, comfy robes, fresh squeezed lemonade, chocolate trays, chimenea's and hammocks, amazing spa, a salt water pool, good drinks at happy hour. We enjoyed it all!
The beautiful pool Yummy Chocolate plate in our room

Dessert: I don't think you could find anyone else who loves dessert like I do. Amy's Ice Cream has some of my favorite ice cream anywhere. We walked about 2 miles across S. Congress Bridge to get some and then we turned around and had smores at The Four Season's another 2 mile walk back. The distance I will go for good ice cream. Yumminess!

Park Benches: Adam loves cities and Austin is growing like crazy. We walked around and checked out all of the new development, mostly mixed use loft style housing. There were lots of cool new shops and restaurants to explore. We found a good little park bench and just enjoyed the view and conversation.

2nd Street District: This area was within walking distance to our hotel and is where one of our best friends Jake used to live. It was fun to explore again and see how much everything had changed.

Lambert's: I am not usually a bar-b-que person but Austin has some of the best bar-b-que anywhere. We had dinner at Lambert's an upscale bar-b-que place that has a really cool vintage vibe. It is located in an old warehouse style building that was built in 1873. I love the decor and the old Chicago style brick. We ate the worlds best corn muffins, and shared the Brown Sugar and Coffee Rubbed Brisket. Goodness!



Town Lake: Town Lake is in the heart of downtown Austin and we watched the fireworks over the lake. It was beautiful! We loved watching the hundreds of kayakers on the lake, they had the best view by far. We also walked past a dude selling Michael Jackson t-shirts out of his old school Adidas bag haha. It wouldn't be Austin without the weirdo's. I almost bought one but Adam put his foot down.



Jo's Coffee: We ate breakfast at our favorite little coffee shop and enjoyed their iced turbo's and breakfast tacos. We sat outside at the bar and met a cute little labradoodle named Joey....very fitting huh =) We saw one of the actors from Friday Night Lights. So funny cause we saw him the last time we were there. He must love this place as much as we do.


The weekend couldn't have been any better. Thanks to my hubby for planning such a romantic, thoughtful and much needed get away. We enjoyed our time together, and were very thankful for the grandparents who babysat. We arrived home to see the most beautiful sunset from our patio. Adam got some great pics.




We thank God for his goodness to us through so many seasons both difficult and good and look forward to what lies ahead over the next 50 years together. I love you hubs!

Father's Day and Grandfather's Day

Dad- Congrats! This is your first Grandfather's Day and your 27th Father's Day. You have been and continue to be an amazing father to me. Thanks for giving me sound advice, wisdom and direction through the years. Thanks for always telling me how much you love me and how proud you are of me. Thanks for encouraging me to strive for greatness and to not accept mediocrity. Thanks for teaching me that relationships count and that I should never compromise my integrity. Thanks for teaching me strength, endurance, ambition, and perserverance and for helping to shape me into a confident and optomistic women who loves the Lord. I love you and thank God that your my dad and Harper is blessed to call you her favorite grandpa Mike.
Adam- It has been so much fun to watch you be a daddy. You are patient, caring, kind, sweet, intentional, loving, fun and a great role model for Harper. Thanks for putting her first and for making an effort to engage with her every day. I know that she will grow up to respect and honor you because of your faithfulness to God. She is blessed to call you her father!

What would life be like with 3?

A few weeks ago 2 of my best friends came to visit us and brought their sweet babies Crew and Adley (16 months old). Our husbands were out golfing and we were at home playing with the babies. Things were going great, all the babies were having fun and enjoying one another. Around 7:00PM things started to go south quickly =). Out of desperation haha (am I exagerating a bit?) We decided that it would be fun to throw all the kiddos in the bath tub. They were having a grand old time splashing and playing. We got them out of the tub and then decided to keep them contained in my bedroom until our husbands got home. As you can see we tried to make light of the situation and decided to act as photographers for the new reality show " America's Next Top Baby Model." As you can see we got some funny pictures of the three of them together. For a second I got a glimpse of what life would be like with 3 babies under 2. Fun, Crazy, and Entertaining to say the least!