We have a biter.

Do you see what's wrong with this picture?

Now do you see it?

Really? Then she screams when she doesn't "work." I realize this may be the point where we say "so long" to her beloved paci, but I REALLY like my sleep and feel like I'm not getting enough here lately. She has about 2.5 million paci's so I guess once she goes through and destroys all of them, that will be the end of it. Until then, I will enjoy my sleep.

Next post to come: Camping at Caprock Canyon State Park (leaving tomorrow and staying 1 or 2 nights...just 1 if I have anything to say about it!). I don't like bugs. I take at least 2 showers a day. I have a feeling that camping and I just won't get along.

One year ago

How is the world can it be a year since my Dad passed away? It seems not so long ago but when I think about it, he missed so much in the past year. I believe in Heaven, obviously, but what does he really see? I like to think he was there for the birth of his 6th grandchild, Sarah Jane, Harper's first birthday and first steps, Landon's first t-ball game, Jordyn cheering at the football games, Riley's third birthday party, Charlie's crazy conversations....You see where I'm going with this.

I miss him so much it hurts. Growing up, he missed out on a lot of stuff. We didn't know it then, but he suffered from PTSD which he masked with alcohol. My siblings are the ones who got the short end of the stick, though. See, with me being the youngest, I got to experience the real "Dad" since I was the only one left at home. While I was in high school, he finally realized that some things needed to change. He started to get more involved in our lives. He wouldn't miss my volleyball and basketball games for the world. It didn't matter how far he had to drive, he was there.

Years went on and Dad started having some health issues. It started with congestive heart failure and rheumatoid arthritis and things just kept piling up...diabetes, Parkinson's, and the PTSD was getting worse. When Mom and Dad came to Lubbock for Harper's birth, he was in pretty bad. Right after she was born, they ended up leaving because I couldn't handle seeing my dad so sick AND try to care for a newborn. A few days later, Dad was admitted and ended up in ICU. Around Thanksgiving of 2009, he had signed a complete DNR, and we were preparing to say our final goodbyes. But Dad wasn't ready to die! He even told the people driving him home from the ambulance this. :) He was sent home under hospice care shortly after Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad spent those next four months soaking in every moment. The night before he died, they even went on a date in Austin for dinner and a movie. The day he passed away, he just started having some difficulty breathing. His heart just couldn't keep up. He passed away with my mom by his side, holding his hand on the night of March 26, 2010.

So this past weekend, my friend Gerianne, Harper, and I drove to my mom's for some quality family time! We got to her house Thursday night, went to San Antonio (went to the zoo and visited my dad, went by my grandma's house), spent the night, made it to my nephew, Landon's t-ball game in Bastrop, drove back to La Grange, church on Sunday, spent the night in Austin Sunday night, then drove back to Lubbock on Monday. Wow, that made me tired just remembering all we did! It was a great weekend, but I think I need a vacation just to sleep and recover from my vacation!

First stop was the zoo! Jordyn got to leave school early on Friday to join us there. :)

I'm super smart and forgot Harper's stroller for the trip, so we had to rent one at the zoo.

We left some pretty flowers and a "Happy Birthday" balloon for my dad.

This may sound creepy to some, but I LOVE national cemeteries!

T-ball is seriously the most entertaining sport to watch.

He made 2 runs! I was so proud of him!

We made a stop at the 0utlets in R0und R0ck. So what if I bought Harper her 6th pair of C0nverse?!

Just riding on Buzz's spaceship. No big deal.

Harper loved Hul@ Hut just as much as I do.

It was a little ridiculous to see how much luggage we had for 2 adults and a toddler.

Thank you, God, for portable DVD players.

Buddy Holly Recreation Area

A couple of weekends ago, Michael and I drove over to the Buddy Holly Recreation Area to take some pictures of Harper. The weather was SO beautiful that day and couldn't pass it up. I know about one trick in Ph0t0sh0p, so I'm sure these pictures could love a lot better if I knew what I was doing!

I love this face!

I later realized she had splinters in her hands and legs from this bridge. Oops.

She can look so sweet and innocent in pictures.

After the park, we went over to our friends' house for a cookout! I am so fortunate to have such awesome co-workers to hang out with outside of work! Rachel, her husband Matt, and 2-year-old Lucy had us over with another family from work. Harper is definitely at the age where she would rather play with her friends than by herself (or just want my attention all the time!). They have a big backyard with plenty of stuff to get into play with. I have never really let Harper get dirty too much. It's mostly because I really don't want to deal with the clean up. Come to find out, this girl LOVES to get dirty. Good thing I only paid $2 for this dress at W@l-Mart.

Mmmm....snot with a little dirt stuck to it.

St Maddie's Day

My heart breaks for Kellie and her family. I can't imagine losing a child. I'm not really sure how I come across most of the blogs I read, but I just can't seem to stop thinking about sweet Maddie. Today, Maddie would have been 5 months old and in honor of her, Kellie asked for everyone to take their kids to the park and just love on them. So that is what we did. We first ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse in celebration of the 5th anniversary of our very first date then headed to Maxey park for some picture taking.

I am REALLY going to try to keep up with my blog! I just don't lead a very interesting life :)