Harper McKenzie- 20 months old

Dear Harper,

We are creeping closer and closer to 2 years old now, which is so hard to believe! You are 20 months now!!

We don’t go to the doctor again until 2 years old, so I have no idea what your weight and height are. I do know that you are a tall girl, so you must get that from your Dad! You have really been talking and babbling more and more over the past couple of months. You say Ma Ma, Da Da, Gee Gee, Gi Gi, Di Di, Thank You Thank You, No No and a variety of other sounds/words. You understand commands and can identify animals, fruit, vegetables, other foods, shapes, etc. Your favorite thing to do is to play outside, which I think is great! We don’t want you to be a kid that always wants to watch TV or just play inside. You throw a fit when we bring you in from outside! The weather is getting nicer and nicer, so we hope to have lots more outside fun. You still love to read your books, so you have a ton by now!

Since the last update, we found out that you are going to have a sibling. We are so excited to add another baby to our family and hope and pray that you love each other and that you both have a wonderful relationship. I know you will be a great big sister!

You are still on the same schedule- waking up around 8:00 am, napping from 12:00-2:30 or 3:00 pm and going to bed at 8:00 pm. You are still a picky eater, but we aim for 3 meals a day, and you LOVE to snack! Your favorite foods are still the same- yogurt, applesauce, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, mini oreos and pizza!

You are wearing 18 month, 24 month and 2T clothing. Thankfully, you have always been pretty on target for clothes sizing. You are wearing size 5 and 6 shoes, and you got lots of new pairs of sandals for the summer! 

The pediatrician said that we should probably wait to start potty training until after your sibling gets here, so we are still contemplating whether or not to try that out or not. You are wearing size 4 diapers, and we just bought some size 5 to try out.

You have always been a very healthy baby, although you have had a consistent cold/allergies for about a month or two now- runny nose, sneezing, coughing, etc. You get cranky here and there, but for the most part it’s just a nuisance for you. I think you have about 12 teeth now, so we don’t have to worry about giving you most foods. You can chew almost everything at this point.

I think we have started the terrible two tantrums a little early because you sure know how to have one! They happen mostly when we make you come in from outside, but you also throw some tantrums when you just don’t get to do what you want. Hopefully that gets better soon, although I doubt it will! You still continue to gain more and more independence, and we try to let you do whatever you can by yourself. Your favorite thing is to pick out your own food/snacks. You have started doing this little fake laugh that is adorable. Overall, you are still very pleasant and get more and more fun to play with!

You still love playing with our phones and know how to operate them better than us by now. Your hair is getting longer and longer, so it’s fun to fix it in ponytails and pigtails. We haven’t had to get a haircut yet; we’re just letting it grow for now!

We can’t wait to see what the next few months will bring since each and every one is new and different. You are so smart and are learning so much. Like they say, you are definitely a little sponge absorbing everyone and everything around you. We love you more than anything in the whole world, and thank God for bringing you into our lives!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Easter Weekend- Picture Overload

Happy Monday! We had such a nice, fun Easter weekend with family. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Clint's cousin, his wife and two little girls were in town from Dallas so Harper had lots of cousins to play with!

On Friday, my mom kept her as usual and they got to play outside, which is Harper's favorite thing to do!

His cousin that lives in Dallas has two girls, Olivia (almost 5) and Addison (2 years old). His other cousin who lives two houses down from us has a little girl, Caitlyn (1 year old this week!), but I don't have any pictures of her to share. She isn't walking quite yet, so she didn't get in on all the action- lucky for her! I'm sure next year she'll be right in the middle of it with all the rest of them :)

They had a birthday party for Addison on Saturday afternoon, so that's when all the fun started! After the party, the girls decided they loved to play on the lawnmower!

On Sunday, we got up and went to Church. Sadly, I have no pictures of Harper in her Easter dress. She threw a fit before we left the house because she didn't want to wear her white jean jacket, so it was all we could do to get out the door on time!

That evening, we went to Clint's aunt's house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt! Harper really got into getting the eggs, and then had loads of fun catching bubbles! The child LOVES bubbles.

The basket is about as big as she is!

All in all, a fantastic weekend!

Exciting Announcement!

We are so excited to announce that Harper will be a big sister! Baby Smith is due on October 2, 2014.

I am 13 weeks pregnant today, so finally at the end of the first trimester. There hasn't been much difference so far between my first pregnancy and this one, aside from the awful flu I had around 5 1/2 weeks. I have been lucky and am not typically nauseous much during pregnancy. I try to stay pretty active throughout, so I think that helps a lot with energy levels, swelling, etc. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it's as smooth this time around as last time. Now that I'm over all that and the fatigue has let up, I'm looking forward to the rest of this pregnancy and welcoming our next family member in a few short months!

Now, the wait to find out if we will be bringing the pink and bows back out or headed off to the store for some blue and bowties :)

Five on Friday- Spring Essentials

Sorry for the absence as of late! Between recovering from my sickness in early February and a bad case of writer's block, I took a little break from updating the blog. I hope to get back to it though and wanted to share some of my Spring essentials wish list today!

1. Although I don't get them painted as much as I would like, I love to have bright, colorful painted nails. There are so many really pretty colors for Spring! My favorite brands are Essie and OPI.

2. When the weather starts heating up and getting sunnier, I can't help but think of swimming, the beach and bathing suits! I do love a good bikini, but I've also seen some really cute one piece swimsuits lately.

3. We are going to Florida the week of the 4th of July for a family vacation. I am SO excited and cannot wait! We usually go every year and didn't go last year, so I'm craving that dose of sun, sand and relaxation. Clint and I got married in Destin, and we were there for our 1 year anniversary. This year, we'll be there again right after our 2 year anniversary. I think an anniversary date at the Melting Pot will be on our agenda :)

4. I also love Spring because the grass, flowers and trees all get so pretty and green! We are planning to work in our yard all day next weekend to get our flower beds, garden and flower pots all ready to go!

5. This pretty girl is ready for Spring as well!

Harper McKenzie- 18 months old

Happy Friday! Sorry for the absence around here, but I have just been trying to get over this whole flu mess (and feel so much better now!) in addition to having some writer's block. Today though, I want to celebrate Harper's 18 month old "birthday" by writing an update of what's going on with her lately!

How have we already made it to 18 months old?? It's crazy that time really does fly by so fast. We are really trying to cherish every single moment that we have with you though, Harper, so that we don't let the speed of life sneak up on us.

We don't go to the doctor for your checkup until next week, but my guess is that you weigh around 26 pounds now and probably still around 31 inches tall. You have started talking more and more over the past few months, and I hear that the 18 month mark is a period of vocabulary explosion, so we are excited to hear you start learning and saying more and more words. You are calling several of us by our "given" names, as well as saying "thank you", "there ya go" and several other words here and there. You can also identify and make all kinds of animal sounds, which is so cute. You love making messes and playing with all of your toys in your new play room, and you still LOVE reading and looking at all your books. 

You are pretty much on the same schedule as you have been for the past several months now, waking up around 8:00 am, napping from about 12:00-2:30 pm and going to bed at 8:00 pm. We still try to get you to eat 3 meals a day and snacks in between, but you are so inconsistent with your appetite! We always try but sometimes you just don't want to eat, and I've heard that's normal and ok. We know that you are growing, so no worries there. Your favorite foods right now are yogurt, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and you adore mini oreos for a treat!

You have stayed pretty consistent with the clothing sizing for your age. You are wearing 12-18 month and 18-24 month clothing and size 5 shoes. We are hoping to start potty training within the next couple of weeks to see how you do. You have shown some interest in the potty, so we are hoping maybe you are ready to start going on the potty during the day.

We went to the dentist for the first time earlier this week. You have lots of teeth now, and the dentist said everything looked great! We, thankfully, have not had many problems with you teething and having a lot of pain (just some crankiness here and there), so we are thankful for that.

You continue to gain more and more independence and want to do lots of things by yourself instead of us doing them. You get super mad if we don't let you put your diaper in the Diaper Genie, you like to push your own high chair where it goes when it's time to eat and you like to pick out your own snack from the pantry. You won't really even accept a snack that we pick out for you! You do throw some tantrums here and there, which I know is normal, but you get over them really quick and move on to the next thing. Overall, you are fairly laid back, pleasant and happy! Sometimes you start giggling at things like you have your own little inside jokes- it's so precious!

You LOVE LOVE LOVE playing with phones. You are an expert now at controlling the phone, so we limit the phone usage to only when we really need to get something done like cooking dinner or getting ready. Your hair has gotten super long, but it's in an awkward stage, so it hard to fix sometimes. Because you stay home most of the time, we will just pull it up in pig tails or pin your bangs back out of your face. 

Harper, we love you so much that it makes our hearts hurt! You are the best thing that has happened to us, and we look forward to every day with you, watching you learn more and more and grow!

Five on Friday- Flu Facts

1. The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.

2. Signs and symptoms of the flu include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, congestion, body aches, headaches, fatigue and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

3. Most experts believe the flu spreads mainly by droplets made when people with the flu cough, sneeze or talk. Less often, a person might also get the flu by touching a surface or object that has the flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, eyes or nose.

4. You may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning day 1 before symptoms develop and up to 5-7 days after becoming sick. 

5. Complications of the flu include bacterial pnemonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions. 

You may be wondering why I chose this riveting topic to blog about today?? Well, I have been battling the flu all week and thought I would pass on the knowledge I gained while quarantined to the bedroom, laying in bed for 3-4 days! I did indeed get the flu shot, but to no avail. So far, so good- no one else in my family has gotten it, so fingers crossed and prayers are appreciated! I'm on the mend, thank goodness, but it has been a rough week. 

Hope everyone else has had a healthy week and has a great weekend!

*All of the facts above were taken from www.cdc.gov.

Five on Friday

1. We keep hearing such good things about the Lone Survivor movie, so we are going to go see it this weekend. Hopefully it's as good as everyone says!

2. I am finally getting the rug in for Harper's playroom today! It has been delayed in Atlanta with all the stranded people and snow/ice. I hope to get that room finished this weekend, and then I can show pictures!

3. Harper has been showing some signs of being interested in the potty and going to the potty, so I think we are going to start trying to potty train soon. I realize it may not work the first time, but it can't hurt to try and see what happens. If she doesn't get it, we'll stop for awhile and try again! This is the potty we bought:

4. I honestly don't care much about actually watching the Superbowl, but I sure do like eating all the yummy food!

5. Yay for the weekend! I got my house cleaned, groceries bought and I'm leaving work at 1:00 pm today! Just a couple more hours to go :) I thought this was hilarious: