BeachBody Challenge

So, I have been quite lazy since, well, me and Josh got married...but especially since I got pregnant/had Harper. It is time to change my habits. Starting December 5th (yes, I'm procrastinating it a week) I will be starting the BeachBody Challenge. Kind of excited about it. I will be documenting my progress here weekly. And will (possibly) be posting pictures...depends on how embarrassing they are. But I do promise, at the end of the 60 days, to post both before and after pictures. Shouldn't be so embarrassing once I look semi-decent at the end. Wish me luck. And need lots of encouragement. The more comments on these posts, the more I will want to do it. Thanks!

5 months

Harper turned 5 months old on May 1st. She is almost able to sit up now without falling over...but still has a little work to do. :) She is so happy and so fun! I can't imagine my life without her.

She's so cute...

me, not so much...

UT vs. BYU

Harper went to her first college football game. And of course we took the opportunity to dress her up in Longhorn gear (well, I did...Josh not so much. But I will tell you that he thought she was pretty cute, even though he was rooting for BYU)

We (Me and Harper) were going for the Longhorns because I told Josh that Harper was born and raised in Texas :) so she was a Longhorn by default. But I will tell you that I secretly hoped BYU won. Unfortunately, they didn't. Final score. UT: 17 BYU: 16. Bummer.

Josh was going for BYU and so he was bummed when they lost. But all in all, it was a fun game. Harper did great! Got fussy the last 5 minutes of the game and then fell asleep on the hike (literally) back up to the car.

Can't wait to do it again!

Grandma Liddell and Auntie Jill.

Grandma Liddell and Auntie Jill came for a visit at the end of August. This was Harper's first time meeting Jill and third time meeting Grandma Liddell. Here's some pics of the fun time we had!

Riding the Waves

We took Harper to the beach for the first time on Sunday, August 28th. She loved the water. I'm sure that's mostly because it was warm.

Here's Harper in her Little Swimmers diaper waiting to get her sunscreen and swimsuit on. She loved holding onto the umbrella.

Waiting to go in the water.
Sadly, this is the best family picture of us at the ocean with Harper walking in the water...

Josh and Harper...

Here she is in the handmade pool made by daddy.

Don't you love her sunglasses and polkadot ruffle swimsuit?!

Walking in the water

Josh kept holding her like this and then the waves would come and get all over her face...she definitely tasted salt water...YUCK!

This one is slightly better than the first family picture...

We had fun! Josh, especially. He refuses to wear sunscreen, though, and thoroughly regrets the few days after every time...

Nook Giveaway

Head on over to this blog. She's giving away a Nook. Boy do I want it!

3 month photo shoot

So I have a friend that is a photographer and she loves taking pictures of babies, so I am lucky because she's always wanting to take pics of Harper. Here's a few of the last photo shoot.

Bookshelf. Opinion?

So...planning on making this bookshelf for Harper's room. Actually, two or three. You can find the tutorial here.

And I plan on putting it on the wall next to the curtains.

But, I need your opinion. I am trying to find fabric that I like...here's what I'm thinking...

#1

#2

#3

#4

Is there already too much color on the wall that I should do a black and white one? Or should I go with color??? Help!

Just a reminder: This is what the bedding looks like in her room.

Harper's Photoshoot

We have a friend who knew about a photo shoot for a kid company called Warm Fuzzies. They make all of their products by crocheting or knitting. Anyway, if you showed up to model their stuff, you got to choose 5 of the photos to have for free. Here's the ones we picked.

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Which is your favorite?

3 Months!

Dear Harper,

I can't believe you're already three months. Time is flying by! You get cuter and cuter everyday, which I don't know how that's possible. In the past month, you've gotten so alert. You smile anytime someone talks to you. You love it when I whistle to you, make the kissing sound and you love it when me or dad sings to you. You laugh, too, all the time, which is the cutest thing!

You have a new toy that has piano keys on the bottom for you to step in and a TON of different toys for you to play with, including a mirror. OH MY HECK! You are so cute when you look at yourself in the mirror. You just get this huge grin and start laughing. You love looking at yourself. I take you in front of a mirror at least three times a day. I can't stand it. You are so cute!

You pretty much don't take a pacifier anymore, which is really fine with me, because then I don't have to worry about having to take it away from you later on. You hate getting in the car seat, but once you're in, as long as you're moving in it, you're fine.

You are wanting to stand all the time! You don't like to sit on my lap very much anymore, but I think that's just because you're wanting to stand all the time. It's super cute.

Well, you are now crying, so I guess I'll go check on you. We love you, little girl! You have been such a blessing in our lives!

Love,

Mom (and Dad)

2 months (a little late)

Dear Harper,

I'm a little late writing this to you, but that's because we have had a busy week with family in town for your blessing. This month has been the month of firsts...and it has been so fun! You slept your first 5 hours in a row! I couldn't believe it. And the funny thing is that I felt so incredibly rested afterward. You usually sleep quite a bit in the morning and then are up for the day around 12:00. That's because I take you walking in our jogging stroller every morning with a friend, and you sleep the entire time. I'm not quite sure how you find it easy to sleep when you're bouncing around like crazy, but you must find it quite relaxing.

Also, you are loving your playmat these days! I can just set you on it and you squeal and go crazy. You love hitting the toys that hang down from it, and each time you do, you get all excited! In fact, I'm writing this write now while you're playing on it and you are having the time of your life! This playmat has allowed me to get quite a few things done around the house, like doing the dishes, folding laundry, etc. But, I must say that when I hear you from downstairs squealing upstairs, I end up coming up and just watching you because you are so dang cute! So, I am getting more things done around the house, but I also just sit and watch you have so much fun on it!

You smiled at me, on purpose :), for the first time this month. And each day you smile more and more. I love to just sit there and make you smile. Daddy loves it, too. He always tells you how cute you are. He does this thing called the rocket, and we think you love it, but maybe you just think we are really weird. Daddy picks you up and holds you like you're laying on your stomach and then shoots you from one side to the other really quickly.

This month, you also graced us with your first of three blowout diapers. And they all happened in one week. That was quite an experience. But I must say you were in quite a good mood after each of these.

You get cuter and cuter everyday! I love being able to stay home with you and watch you grow! You have quite the personality.

You love visiting Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house. They have a playmat for you, too, but it's different, so you get really excited when you're on it.

You also LOVE the outdoors. If you're ever in a bad mood (which really doesn't happen that often) we can walk outside with you and you will instantly stop crying and just look around. You love taking in all that's going on outside.

We love you so much and are excited to see all that you're going to do/learn this next month.

I love you.

Love,

Mom

Swim anyone?

Took Harper swimming for the first time while Josh's family was here. She really liked it. Took her a minute to get used to the water because it was a little bit colder than her normal bath water, but after that, she loved it! Love her swimsuit!!!

Putting her feet in.
My husband is quite embarrassing when we go swimming. Has to have his goggles and flippers. haha.
Me and Harper. I was so excited to get her in the water that I forgot to take my shirt off...
Here's the part of the family that actually got in the water. Of course we all had to take turns holding Harper in the water and taking pictures with her.

One Month

Dear Harper,

I can't believe you are one month already!!! Me and your dad were just talking about how you look so much bigger/older to us. I'm not going to lie, the first month has been hard, but only because I REALLY like my sleep, and you are REALLY good at getting up every two hours on the dot. You sure do like to eat. You already have a nickname from your dad. The first night in the hospital you made noise the whole time you were sleeping, so your dad nicknamed you Squeaker. I imagine he'll be calling you that the rest of your life. At your two week appointment, you weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. I thought you were big then, but now I think you weigh about 7 lbs. 5 oz. or so. It's been so fun watching you grow and learn. I love it when I can just pick you up when you are crying and you are instantly happy! It melts my heart. Your dad says I hold you too much, but I can't help it. You are just so cute. And you are certainly one of the best dressed little girls in town!I love getting you dressed each day. No doubt you already have hundreds of pictures of yourself loaded onto the computer. Over the last week, you have really started taking in everything around you. You just look around and stare at everything. I wish I knew what you were thinking, but I love it when you just stare into my eyes. You have only been here a month, but I can't express to you how much I love you and how much your dad loves you. You are such a blessing to us and I can't wait to watch you grow in the next month. I love you!

Love,

Mom

Introducing Harper Rae

Well, here she is. Born May 1, 2011 at 7:34 a.m. Weighing 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 19.75 inches long. We absolutely love her. I will get the birth story written soon.

Lately

***I tried three times to separate this into paragraphs, but it keeps squishing it all together into one REALLY HUGE paragraph, or novel:) so you're just going to have to deal. I'm sorry.*** Here's some things that have been going on lately. It's not super exciting stuff, but I want to update my blog, so this is what you get. I've been working a lot! Which is good. At first, things were slow, so it's nice that things are picking up. The unfortunate thing about that is that it looks like things are going to continue to pick up, and I will not be working around that time, because I will be staying home with Ms. Harper Rae!!! (I'm so excited) Today actually might be my last day of working. I haven't quite decided, but if I do take something, it will be small. I don't want to go into labor and still have a transcript that I have to produce...that would really stink! We are still SLOWLY working on the room. This painting is killing us. We both hate painting (and I really stink, which basically means Josh is doing it) so it's very tedious work. Once the painting is done...it will almost be done. We will have to put the floors in, but it's a very small room and I don't think it will take too long. (Josh has never put in wood floor, though, so who knows) We got the bedding in yesterday and it's super cute! I can't wait to see it against everything we've picked out for the room (walls, furniture, etc.) The baby shower is tomorrow! I am so excited. I love going to baby showers, so I can't imagine what it will be like when that baby shower is for me (or, really, for Harper). I can't wait. And I have a secret. I know a lot of people don't like the baby shower games, but I LOVE them. I absolutely love them. But I pretty much love games of all sorts, so it's no surprise. Tomorrow can't come fast enough! Plus I'm excited because we have been waiting to buy stuff until the baby shower. I mean, we bought everything for the room, but that is really the extent of it. We haven't bought anything else, so I am going to have fun seeing what we still need and what we don't need and buying what we do need. We also have some family coming in town for it. Josh's aunt and her daughter (his cousin) live in the Dallas area, so they are making the trip down tomorrow morning and then staying Saturday night, so it should be a fun weekend! I am excited for next week to start. I think the nesting has kicked in. All of this working this week has made me realize how much I would like to not work, and just clean. It was frustrating that I couldn't clean because I had too much work to do. Next week I plan to clean to my heart's desire. So excited! Also on the list of things to do would be to start the frozen dinners. I know that people from the ward will be super helpful in that area, but I still want to get some frozen just in case. But I don't like to cook all that much (well, sometimes I do. It comes in spurts) so this one is going to be hard for me to do. But I'm making myself :) I guess I can tell you a little about how the pregnancy is going, since I haven't really done that at all, or at least it's been a while. I am 35 weeks and 2 days. Holy cow! 33 days to go. I can't believe it. It is going by both fast and slow. I don't know how to explain it. I really just want to meet her already, but I'm not ready, and either is she :) I don't really know what to say about it, though, because it's been a really easy pregnancy. I've heard what other people have gone through and I can't even imagine. I really have enjoyed being pregnant. I have had absolutely no sickness. I have never been nauseated, or anything. That has been great! I started feeling Harper kick at 18 weeks and she kicks non-stop. Luckily for me, I have not been kicked in the ribs...yet! We will see if it happens. There has been a time or two where I think her butt is sitting right against my ribs, but it hasn't been too bad. I have gained 26 lbs., so I'm right on track. I imagine by the time I have her, I will have gained 31-35 lbs. I am really curious, though, as to how much I will lost just from having her. I can still wear all my clothes (well, you know what I mean. I can still pull up my jeans, obviously can't button them up), so I'm wondering if I'll be able to button up my jeans after I have her. I probably won't be able to, but that would be nice. I have only bought two pairs of maternity jeans (and my mom also bought me a pair) and then I haven't bought any maternity tops (my mom bought me four, I think, though) so it's been nice to not have to worry about spending money on that. I have no desire to spend money on maternity clothes. I can't figure out where I've gained the rest of the weight, though. I know I'm not going to close all 35 lbs. right away (although that would be great) so we will see. I'm sure my face has gotten a little chubbier, but not enough to where I can really tell. Anyway, enough about that. My feet started to swell the other day. It was crazy! It's only happened that one time, but I'm telling you, I already have big toes (my family has always teased me about it) and it was definitely not a good sight to see. I hope it doesn't happen again. (Who am I kidding?) I guess that's about it. I start my weekly OB appointments this next week, which I feel like will make it go by even faster. That's exciting! Oh, we took a Baby Basics class (did I blog about that already? I don't remember. I learned a few new things, but really, we already knew everything. We made it fun, though. Well, Josh did. He's such a nerd. He kept turning the baby's face all the way around (because it was a seriously ugly baby) and putting the beanie over it, so it looked like we had a faceless baby. We were pretty much laughing the whole time (I don't think the other people like us, though. They were all very serious about the whole thing.) Anyway, we are taking a breastfeeding class on the 25th. Josh is not thrilled. For some reason, I am quite nervous about breastfeeding. Mostly because I don't like pain, so I hope it's not as painful as I've heard it is. But I am determined to breastfeed, so I will just have to deal. I debated and debated about taking the class. But after talking to a few good friends, and them telling me that it's worth it, I decided to sign up for the class...so that's what I did. I signed us up and then told Josh afterwards :) Surprisingly he did not complain, although I know he's not thrilled. Someone told him (as a joke) that they would have a live demonstration, so he's really not excited about that. But it specifically says on the website that they don't do live demonstrations (which is good!) so he has nothing to worry about. Anyway, that's really all I can say about the pregnancy. I've been very lucky for it to be so easy. I'm thinking I'm going to have a really hard labor, though, just to even it out. Sorry this was an extremely boring post (you probably didn't even make it this far to reading) but I feel better about myself for actually updating the blog. Now I have to figure something else to do while I sit here in court...

Slowly making progress

So, we are SLOWLY working on Harper's room. It's quite depressing that it's taking so long, but it's hard when I can't really do any of it and Josh works as often as he does. Who wants to work all day and then come home to work more? I know I wouldn't. So, the last few days, we've been doing a little bit, but not much. Here are some pictures of what's been done.

Here's what it looked like after Josh tore out all of the baseboards and the carpet. A big mess!
Here's Josh building the shelves in the closet. I love that he's so handy!
More pictures of Josh working on the shelving.
The finished product...before it's been caulked and painted (I hate caulking and Josh gave me that job...it's slowly coming along, too.)
Here are the colors we chose for the walls. Josh still has to finish a lot of the edges of the walls, but this will give you an idea. The material I am holding (if you can even see it with my big hand in the way) is the swatches from the bedding we chose. What do you think? Does it go? I hope so, 'cause that's the way it's staying :)
Three of the walls are the light grey color and then the one wall is the pink. The crib is going to go against the pink wall. We are also in the process of painting the baseboards the darker grey color.
Another picture of the grey and pink. Does the grey look too blue for you? Josh thinks the room looks really blue and is worried about it. I think it looks good. And I told him once the black furniture and the bedding and valance are in there, it won't look blue. What do you think?
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