so busy

We've been crazy busy the past few months. Legoland, camping, Disneyland, 1st birthday party... you name it, we've done it. I posted new photos on our site, and will hopefully have more to add this weekend.

Allie & Aaron's photos

And she grows...

We've been quite busy over the past few months. In fact, so busy I cannot manage to find time to post the photos. I'm really going to have to follow Colleen's lead and get them posted once a month.

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Emigh's house in Fresno for Harper's first Christmas and had a fabulous time. You all know how I'm really bad with cold weather, so I won't bore you too much with the details. We had layers of clothes for Harper, and luckily, Grandma and Grandpa keep the heater going, and we didn't leave the house... except once for a walk. Harper reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story.

Harper had a great first Christmas. As I've heard with other kids, she wasn't that intersted in the unwrapping part - she just wanted to eat the paper. But once we got everything opened up, she had a great time playing with her new toys.

January took us to San Francisco for Katie's 24th birthday. Harper was great on the plane, and had a fabulous time checking out the city. We rode the trolley cars, walked through Ghirardelli Square, and ate fabulous food. Harper spent the afternoon with Aunt Katie and Auntie Kim, while mom and dad went to the Fancy Food Show. She had a fabulous time and tried eclair for the first time (thanks Kim!).

In other news, Harper is walking. Yes, walking. She's been walking for a while with our help, but the day after her 9 month birthday, she saw something across the room she could not live without. She so walks. It's fun to watch her, because she walks with her arms up like she's holding on to us. And she's so proud of herself.

This spring will be quite busy. We've got a camping trip planned to the desert. I really don't like the idea of my precious child getting dirty, but I better get over that quick. Aunt Nan the Great is coming to visit, and we're headed to Disneyland for Grandma SuSu's 60th Birthday. And of course, there will be a First Birthday Bash complete with BBQ and cupcakes. Stay tuned...

View pictures

Late, late, late

I have been (quite) remiss in posting photos of Harper lately. Every time I think I have time to sit down and work on something, my time runs screaming from the room. So I've been working on doing things in piecemeal. I've finally gotten around to the last step, which is posting everything online!

We have been quite bust the past few months. We celebrated Grandpa Steven's 60th birthday in Yosemite and you couldn't have asked for better weather. It was beautiful! I only wish we had more time to hike and explore the valley.

On our way to and from Yosemite, we stopped in Fresno for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Emigh. It was such a nice, relaxing time, and Harper loved it. She especially loved meeting Simon, the lovable Chow-Retriever mix, who could have cared less about her presence.

Thanksgiving was low-key and also relaxing. While she didn't partake in our feast, Harper had a feast of her own. Next year, though, she'll be able to be a glutton with the rest of us.

She's doing lots of tricks these days... the best one is eating. As many of you know, feeding a baby can be quite an adventure. She likes sweet potatoes the best, and a few other veggies, but pears are her least favorite, much to her mother's chagrin (they're my favorite). She is also squealing like a banshee which is fun (most of the time). She's sitting all on her own, but still not crawling. It is the general consensus that she may skip this crawling business and go straight to walking. Her legs are pretty strong, but she still has lots to grow before she walks.

Happy holidays!

Four months

I have been remiss in posting lately, but for good reason. I started work again on Sept. 2, which was difficult. We haven't gotten into any routine, yet, so every morning is a logistical nightmare. Every day, my goal is to get to work. If I can manage that, we're off to a good start.

But in other news... Harper is growing like a weed. She has almost outgrown the swing, which we hadn't really planned on. I know that sounds silly, but she only naps in one of three places: her swing, the carseat, or our arms. Well, she doesn't really like her carseat, and only sleeps there when she is realy sleepy. So now we have to start moving her to her crib, or the cosleeper. Not really looking forward to that. There may be some sleepless days ahead.

She still only rolls over one way, but Grandma Barbara has had a preview of what's to come. I think Harper likes to put on shows for her grandparents that we don't see. She's getting better about sitting up. We got her a silly chair that she can practice sitting in, and she seems to like it.

Harper seems more and more interested in food. She sits and watches intently while we eat. We tried banana a few weeks ago and she seemed to like it. But as she swallowed, she made a face. So we'll wait another week or so, and try some cereal, or something else.

Harper is learning early about presidential elections. She listens with great interest when mommy and daddy spout off about current events. While she has definite party affiliations, she hopes that regardless of which team you root for, that you will all go vote on November 4. Happy fall!!

The cutest

Ok, I know I'm biased, but don't we have the cutest kid in the whole world?

(Thanks to April and Hal for the adorable hat!!)

Catch-all

I was looking around the living room the other day and realized that Harper's toys could get out of control quickly. I searched my house high and low for a cute basket I could use to catch the toys, and realized in one of my fits of let's-get-rid-of-all-our-crap, I must have given them away. I remembered this post from RookieMoms and found my inspiration. We had an empty bin from new cat litter (and yes, I did bleach it first), so I covered it with contact paper and ribbon. When we were kids, my mom used to cover old dog bone boxes with contact paper for all our toys. The bonus here, is that with the lid on, they'll stack quite nicely.

(I know, I know... this is kinda lame to be posting about, but my sister has already given me crap for becoming a Mom-Blogger. Must be the hormones.)

Take me out to the ballgame

Sunday evening was Harper's first trip to Petco Park, to watch the Padres get beat by the Phillies... Poor Pads...













You can see how enthralled Harper was by the ballgame.

Three months

I can't believe that Harper is already three months old. Everyone says it goes by so quickly, but I didn't think it would go this quickly. Knowing this, Aaron and I are enjoying every minute we get to spend with her.

This month has been full of changes. Harper is sitting up, with help from mom or dad, or a pillow to prop her up. She gets closer and closer every day to rolling over, and in the process is able to pivot herself 90 degrees. She is examining everything she does and everything we do. She sits on my lap while we eat dinner, and watches us all with intent. In fact, at lunch the other day, she grabbed the fork right out of my hand. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Earlier this month, we drove to Stockton to see the Libbey side of the family. As per our usual craziness, we rented a minivan, and put Harper, mom and dad, grandma, uncle and dog in the minivan and drove almost 11 hours to get there. It wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't driving through the Central Valley. Once we arrived, we had a wonderful time. Everyone loved seeing Harper. Harper's second cousins, Caroline and Jack, spent hours entertaining her. Since we were all in one place, we took some family photos, which turned out great, thanks to Aaron's fancy new camera.

During this trip, we introduced Harper to swimming. Thanks to Great-Grandma, she had an adorable swim suit to wear, so she didn't have to skinny dip. There is a heated pool in my grandparents community and when there was shade, Harper took a short dip. She seemed to like it (she didn't cry), so we will try it again in the future.

Two months old

We have had a busy month. Harper has been on two short trips, made her way around the zoo, gained 2 pounds, 12 ounces and met a lot of new people.

Harper experienced her first library conference in Anaheim on June 29. The American Library Association's annual conference is a great place to learn new things, and people watch. We drove up with our friends Katy and Bill, and their son Liam, and Harper was a trooper. Luckily it was a short drive, and we did it with no meltdowns. Big Bear was a different story.

Barbara and Steven took us to Big Bear to celebrate Aaron's 30th birthday. We made it almost up the hill before Harper decided that she didn't particularly like the car, carseat, windy roads, altitude or mommy and daddy's singing. So the last 30 minutes of the ride was rough on everyone. But the weekend turned out to be a great success. We took it easy with a leisurely walk around the town, and a paddle boat ride around the lake. Harper slept through both of these activities, but Aaron and I enjoyed them.

At her last checkup, Harper weighed 10 pounds, 13 ounces, up from 8 pounds, 1 ounce. She's grown in length, too, but I missed it when the nurse told us. You can see how much she's grown in the photos (try as I might, I can't get her to smile). She's smiling a lot and I think I heard a giggle last night when she was sleeping. She can also hold on to rings, but she doesn't grab for them yet. We, of course, think she is the smartest baby ever, as I'm sure most parents feel about their own progeny.


We're off to Stockton in a few weeks to meet great-grandparents, an aunt and some cousins. The road trip should make for some great story telling... maybe I'll leave that up to Aaron.

See all the photos on our website.

Harper's First Month

Well, we made it through the first month. Harper had her one month checkup and she is now 8 pounds, 1 ounce (up from 6 lbs., 11 oz) and 21 inches long (up from 19.3 in.). And, of course, she is brilliant. Well, we think so anyhow.

This month has been filled with fun, and not so fun outings, and meeting her fan club. We have lots more planned for the summer before I have to go back to work. I wonder if we'll get to it all.

So far most of our pictures have been taken at home. That is one of our favorite afternoon past times - mommy torturing Harper with the camera. We'll work on getting her out and about for her photo shoots.

Announcing our newest arrival!!

Harper Elise Carr arrived healthy and very happy on Sunday, May 11, 2008, at 2:10pm. She was 6 lbs., 11 ounces ("a little peanut!"), a little over 19 inches long. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, but I'm a little biased. So far, Aaron and I are having a wonderful time just sitting and staring at her. I have a few pictures of her with various family members, but will be adding more to the blog in the next few weeks.