A Message from Harlow

Hi Everyone....Harlow here. Mom said since I am getting so big I could blog on here all by myself. I wasn't real sure what to write about...so she told me just to tell y'all what I did today. It started off with me waking up while mommy was in the shower. I yelled for her, but she never came. Luckily, my Uncle Cole was getting ready for school so he came and got me. He sure is nice to have around....(but he never changes my diaper). He took me and my soggy diaper straight to mommy, and she turned on my favorite show and I got to watch it in mommy and daddy's big bed. I love waking up early.
After we got ready it was off to see Maddie. She is pretty grumpy these days (when she wakes up) so I just try to stay away from her until she is ready to play. We had a fun day, enjoying the warm weather and the rocks(my current favorite outdoor toy). I like playing with Maddie and giving her hugs and kisses...she is my best friend. Mom is going to post some pictures from our outside adventures later.
Tonight, mom and I made bean and cheeezzz tacos. They were really good.....Berkeley thought so too. After dinner we played and sang lots of songs and read lots of books. My mom is a really good singer. Then it was off to take a bath with my daddy....This is my favorite time of the day! I just drank my bottle and now mom says its time to go "night-night" so I gotta go. Lub wooh.

Oh..and just in case my mom posts a picture of me with my lip out....let me explain...I was just going to walk to the edge of the driveway and then turn around I promise! Mrs. Kasey just assumed I was going to keep walking into the street. I hate getting told no...it stinks!

Harlow

The Kid Can Read!

Ok... maybe she can't read yet, but the pictures are pretty convincing. These days Harlow LOVES to go and play in her room BY HERSELF. Sometimes she wants us in there too, but most of the time she is perfectly content playing by herself. "Playing" involves her pulling down ALL the books off her bookshelf and then sitting in the middle of them reading each one. Here are a couple of pictures that I took when I snuck in there to check on her. (I get to pick this mess up EVERY night!!) I love it!!!
Today, I had all the intentions in the world of getting a cute picture of H and I at church..This was our first time to wear matching shoes! Whoooohoo. She got these super cute leopard flats for christmas and I had on mine....Unfortunately, Miss H isn't feeling too great today, so we left early and came home to cuddle and drink juice. Hopefully, we will be back at it tomorrow. Have a great week!

Love, M

Putting An End To The "NO...NO...NO!"

Well this weekend Harlow turned into the ReBeL I never planned her to be. "Not MY daughter!" I remember repeating to myself. This week, every question we asked her came with a strong reply of "NO". When the question was coming from me, sometimes she would add a little slap in the face(bc I am soooo special, right?). YES, You heard me right! Uggghhh, it is the most frustrating thing ever. Not only is she not happy with anything you have to offer, but then she hits you in the face?? It's honestly hard not to laugh, but I try to be stern when I tell her that is not nice to hit and it hurts mommy's feelings. Usually after that, one of two things will happen. Number one, (which I like most) is when she will stick out her lip a little and bury herself in my chest in remorse. AAAAHHHHHHH....if only it were that easy, I would be SuperMOM! Option Number two is where we start to back pedal. She will start screaming, and whack, whack, whack. Three MORE slaps in the face! Hahahaha. Please don't tell me it only gets worse!
Luckily, thursday Kasey(who watches Harlow) was leaving to go out of town so Waylen had the opportunity to stay home with Harlow on Thursday and get some bonding time and I did the same on Friday. To my surprise, she was actually a lot better. Lots of loving, sitting in my lap, and reading books. My sweet angel is back... I think. I will admit she does have her moments, but overall she has been pretty good. Maybe, she was just letting us know she wasn't getting enough attention?
Saturday, we had a surprise birthday party to go to for three of our friends from college so Harlow went and stayed the night at Grandma and PawPaw Papes. It was so nice, and we even got to see some friends from Houston that we haven't seen since their wedding back in May. They are such a great couple and I wish we could hang out more! Hopefully our schedules will allow us to do that in the future. All in all, it was a great weeekend....I even got a little painting done too!
Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks. Maddie had her 2nd birthdy and it was "Cowboy" themed. There are a couple of Harlow at "school"...she obviously doesn't like wearing pants to school so we are going to have to work on that one! hahaha.... and a few from the party this weekend.
Love, M

New Year

2011, is going to be a great year. I am already starting to make lists of everything. Personal goals....professional goals.....projects I want to do around the house...and even a few money management goals! I know! Isn't it great? HAHAHAHAH.... I keep bringing it up to Waylen, so he can make his list too, but for some reason he seems disinterested. I am sure it has nothing to do with the gazillion bowl games on. They should really think about ending all that boy stuff before the New Year starts....
Anyways, step one of all my lists and organization is to find a new daily planner. For my job, I need a specific type, one that has a monthly view only of the month ahead so I can plan out all of my appts, lunches, meetings, etc. I was so excited to see that one of the blogs I follow discussed the hottest new planners out there. I am even more excited with the one I found. Not only does this one give me the month to month calendar view, but also 45+ pages of blank sheets in the back for notes, ideas, etc. PERFECT! To top it all off...each page is monogrammed with my initials and the front is leopard print and personalized. SOOOOOOO CUUUUUUTTTEEEE! If you like planners as much as I do you have to check it out.

www.centsationalgirl.com

This is the blog where I found all the different planners....

www.ericcondren.com

And this is the one I went with....Yeah!!!


Once I am done with all my "lists"...I will let you in on a few. I am thinking about a project a month for the house...and maybe even blogging about it. Ok, I am getting WAY ahead of myself and I am picturing both eye rolling from my husband when he reads this...or terrible words forming in his mouth...LOVE YOU HONEY!!! Have a great week.

Love, M

New Years.....

The days of getting all dressed up and going to a loud,stuffy restaurant, followed by a loud,obnoxious bar for New Years is a thing of the past! (WOW, how old did I just sound?) I have to admit though...I loved every second of it. This year 5 couples decided to get together and start a tradition of renting out a house every 4th of July and New Years so that we can all come together, relax, eat good food, and let our kids run around. 2010 was a great start to that tradition. Harlow is our first "kid running around" and there were two more in their mommy's bellies that will be making their debut in 2011. I love spending time this group and wish we could do it more often.
Harlow did great! We just had to keep her away from the firepit...which means we kept her inside for the most part, and despite a few tantrums she was a champ. Have I told you how often I am seeing those now? That's another post. We can't wait for more babies to join her next year. Soon, all the bunkbeds in the rental will be full of giggles, coodies,and stinky feet. I can't wait!

Love, M