Swimming and a Birthday Party

My mom and Amy set set up the pool for the kids in the backyard at Amy's house. It was HOT, but it was actually quite tolerable sitting in the shade. The babies even started shivering because the pool was in the shade so they didn't last too long in the pool.

Harper and Grammy heading to the backyard

The babies played a little before crazy Charlie jumped in and started splashing them.

Look how long Harper's hair is!

Thief!

Today is Harper's friend, Gracie's, 2nd birthday! She looked pretty cute! Daddy especially approved of the camo pants.
Gracie wasn't loving all the attention. She was cracking us up with all the dirty looks!

She kind of stared off into space while we sang to her. Silly girl! (Isn't that cake awesome?! Gracie's mom, Tana, made it!)

Diggin' in!

BUBBLES!!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, GRACIE! We had a great time at your party and especially love the princess peez! :)

(I may or may not have eaten 3 cupcakes. I can't be sure.)

Science Spectrum and More Pictures with the Cousins

After I got off work this morning, we wrangled the kids and headed to the science spectrum. Harper has been a couple of times with her daddy, but I hadn't been in a while. It's perfect! They all wore themselves out.

Riding the rollercoaster

Harper and Sarah Jane

Riding the zebra

Teeth!

Charlie rock climbing

Watching the trains

Mesmerized by the hot air balloon

Here are some more pictures my mom took of the kids playing in Amy's backyard Monday when they got back from picking Charlie and Sarah Jane up in Abilene.

Charlie giving Harper a ride in the go cart

We are taking it ALL in with Harper's cousins FINALLY living back in Lubbock! We LOVE it! I can't get enough of Sarah Jane's chubby cheeks!

Here is a video from lunch today. Charlie was pestering Harper, and she kept back handing him across the face. Of course I had to get a video before I told her to be nice. :)

Playing with Cousins

Just in case you sit and wonder to yourself....hmmm....how is Harper with her mom all the time, AND she works? I mean, I know you have nothing better to do than think about me. Well, to answer your never ending thoughts.... I am a manager of the Kids Club (childcare) in our newest location in Lubbock. I usually work 8-12 Monday through Friday and 3-6 Monday through Wednesday. Harper is able to come with me to work and play while I (along with my staff) babysit kids while their parents work out. It is the perfect job for my family right now. I don't know if I will ever go back to teaching, but for now, I am content with Harper being with me and not in daycare.

Anyway, the point of all of that...my mom is in town visiting so Harper has been staying with her. My mom takes her over to my sister's house, and Harper gets to play with her cousins all day!

There was mandatory bath time after how dirty they were from playing outside.

Oh, Sarah Jane...she is SO cute and cubbers!
Harper got in a few rounds of "Ring around the Rosie" with Grammy.

Harper got a hold of my phone and apparently thought she needed a picture of our feet.

So now Harper is completely exhausted and refuses to go to sleep without screaming. I'm not so sure how I feel about the "cry it out" method. It doesn't work for us very well. I know a lot of you out there feel very strongly for or against it. I welcome your opinions! While we are at it, I would like your opinions on::

1. Sleep training

2. Breastfeeding versus formula
3. When to take the bottle away

4. When to take the pacifier away

5. When and how to potty train

6. Discipline

and/or any other issue you want to have an opinion on!

Reunited, and it Feels So Good....

I have been waiting for this day for THREE years! I'll expand on that later.

I took Max to the vet to get his annual shots. He sheds excessively when he's nervous, so his hair was falling out in chunks. Ridiculous. He was surprisingly more patient than he usually is. We got to see our favorite vet, Dr. Shelli!

When I was checking out at the counter, a middle-aged man came in. The vet tech came out and set a collar on the counter by him. The man said, "Did you take him already?" She said, "Yes," and the man broke into tears. He mentioned he had a blanket to use in the back of the car, and it clicked. He just had to put his best friend down. I couldn't help hold back my tears. I wanted to give him a hug but didn't want to be the creepy mccreeperson in the waiting room. It was horrible! It probably didn't help I watched Marley and Me last night! I dread the day when we have to say bye to Max. He's my first baby!

Now onto the day I have been waiting THREE long years for....

My babies are back in Lubbock! Charlie was 2 1/2 when my sister and her little family packed up and moved to Virginia. Today, Amy, Harper, and Mom met Amy's SIL Kristy halfway in Abilene to pick up Charlie and Sarah Jane. I went over to Amy's right after work to kiss their faces off. Sarah Jane was exhausted, so she didn't like me very much, but she was precious nonetheless!

Harper trying on everyone's shoes

Cubby Cubbers!

Oh, I waited so long to squeeze those cheeks!

Charlie and Harper LOVE each other. He was tickling her, and she was laughing SO hard.

Me with my sweet babies. These girls are going to be best friends!

I am so very thankful they are back in Lubbock! My mom is also here visiting, so I get to go to work alone and get there on time! Win-Win!

Fast and Furious Weekend

The weekend came and went way too quickly! Friday and Saturday night, Amy and I face painted out at the drive-in for the release of Cars 2. Friday night was INSANE! We started painting faces at 7pm, the movie started at 9pm (which we assumed would send us packing with no more customers), and finally painted our last face close to 11pm! What in the world?! It. was. crazy! People were more interested in the free face painting than the movie they paid to watch! Saturday night was busy but we finished up around 9:30pm. Saturday morning I face painted at a promotion for work at the Covenant 5k out at Mackenzie Park. The heat was surprisingly tolerable. That may have had something to do with me siting in the shade the whole time. I mean, I can't be sure, but it's a possibility. Just in case you are wondering, we do some serious face painting. I'm not talking about a heart on the cheek. You can check out the paints we use and some of the faces we paint here!

I didn't set my alarm clock for church this morning because I assumed Harper would wake us up around 8 since she went to bed at 7:30 the last night. Not so much. The girl was STILL asleep at 10:45! Oh well, I definitely didn't mind the extra sleep.

This is Harper's new game. She will get her stool out of the bathroom and take it to the baby gate. Max will run up, like her face, and she will run away. It's pretty funny!

We went over to mimi's house while they did some more unpacking. She tried on Charlie's raincoat.

The pictures don't have much to do with our weekend, but what's a post without pictures?

Charlie and Sarah Jane will be back in Lubbock tomorrow!!!!

Dress-Up and My Sister!

Harper has been so fun lately. I'm not saying she wasn't fun before, but her personality is really starting to show it's true color. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. ;) I have her clean laundry in a basket on the cedar chest at the end of my bed (that I've been meaning to put up for a few days now....). She always digs through there and finds her favorite things to put on. Lately it has been leg warmers. It cracks me up! If she finds the pair of them, they almost always end up on her right leg. Last night she decided to pair it with her swimsuit.

She was SO proud of herself.
I seriously can't get over how pretty my baby is. You know it's true, so I don't consider that a conceited statement.
In recent news, my sister is back in Lubbock!! If you remember back to this post, they left Lubbock and moved to Charlottesville, VA for Andy to complete his fellowship in the NICU at UVA. A lot has happened in the three years they were gone, but it went by so fast! I'm so thankful they are back safe and sound! Their kids are with Andy's parents in Arlington until Monday so they can get most of their moving in done without having to worry about the kids at the same time.

(photos courtesy of Lorel)

Harper and I went over to Amy and Andy's house while they cleaned and worked on the back yard. I have a feeling Harper and her cousins will be getting into A LOT of trouble together in this house!

Amy (Mimi) and Harper

Tonight we went over to Brook and Amanda's house where Amy and Andy are staying until their moving truck gets here on Saturday. They cooked out at their neighborhood pool, and we had a great time hanging out. I bought Harper a puddle jumper, but she's so dang light, it still didn't work like it should. That's probably why there's a weight requirement!

Harper with Brook and Amanda's daughter Savannah

Here is a quick little video if Harper's latest. She says "yeah" to pretty much any question you ask. It's pretty funny and cute.