Lil' Blossom

"Aw, Mom, do I have to wear this costume?"

But isn't she just so darn cute??

You Belong in the Zoo - Halloween 2009

It's Harper's first Halloween, what to do? I know, she belongs in the zoo! Denver Zoo hosts "Boo at the Zoo" every year so I figured, she loves watching (and talking!) to the cats, why not try out the zoo? The primates proved to be her fave...lots of movement and bright, colorful exhibits. Come to think of it, a lot of them were the same size as the kitties!

Pumpkin Hunting in the Snow

As usual, we waited until the last possible day to get pumpkins. Well, not exactly the LAST day, but last day Daddy could come with us. Forgot to check the weather report before the weekend (a seeming MUST in Colorado!), it was 65 degrees on Saturday but guess what Sunday's forecast was--yep, you got it, SNOW!! Oh well, we must have pumpkins!! And tell Daddy to stop whining--it's not my fault he forgot his hat!!

Laughter - The Best Medicine!

Harper enjoyed her ride to the pumpkin patch...guess she didn't realize we'd be picking out pumpkins in the SNOW!! Yep, that's right folks, apparently it snows in October in Colorado:) Note the Niner sweatshirt--it was Sunday afterall!

Snow in October?!?

Snow in October?? Yep, that's right folks, we are experiencing the erratic Colorado weather, where it is 65 degrees one day, snowing the next. Here's a picture of our house the day after the last storm, Scout surveying the scene, and a Daddy shoveling the sidewalk (each household is responsible for clearing his own sidewalk). Heh heh heh, have fun this winter, honey!

The Harper Chronicles

I can't even believe how quickly our little lady is growing up! She is almost 6 months now, and wow, how the time has really flown by. I haven't been really great about keeping up on the updates (whoever said it gets easier after the first 6 weeks is full of BS), so I'm going to give a little synopsis on our events so far:

• Day 1: May 13, 2009
• Day 3: First night home. We awake at 3am to find the little lady on her side. Holy cow, how the heck did that happen?? Yep, folks, she rolled there all on her own. Hmm, a prelude of things to come??
• Day 7: Our first doctor's visit. The little peanut is not gaining sufficient weight. A bit of stress on mommy but after a couple weeks, we both get the hang of things.
• Month 1: This parenting stuff is no problem! We drive in the car, she sleeps. We go out to eat, she sleeps. We go walking with the stoller, she sleeps. You get the picture. This paired with all of our helpful guests, we are in parenting heaven.
• Week 6: Our first trip back to Callie. She's a doll on the flight. Then we hit the drive from LAX to AG. Do you really have to eat every hour?? Not to mention, you've been through 4 outfits since we left our house this morning!!
• Week 8: Um, ok, this traveling thing, probably not the best idea. We'll be cancelling on that wedding we're supposed to go to in September!
• Week 8-12: Aren't we suppposed to be getting more sleep now? What the "H"?? A clever responder on fb asked me if "H" stands for "Harper"? A dual meaning in this case is definitely appropriate!
• Week 12: I've read every book on sleep I can find. Out of all those books, I find only 2 helpful hints. 400 pages of reading for 2 helpful hints?? I guess it's better than 0. At least we have somewhat regular naps going on now--4 a day sounds about right. On a happier note, she can now roll over, smiles if you're lucky, and chuckles if you tickle her just right. That's pretty cute.
• Month 4: Ok, maybe we'll survive this parenting thing. We're doing so well now, we think, "Hey, let's move again! Yeah, that's a great idea!" We find a cute little house to rent the same day Harper starts teething and we are back to waking up every 2 hours.
• October 10: Moving day and coincidentally, the first snow of the season. Our movers are an hour late. Despite telling us they will, they don't wrap any of our furniture. They actually break one piece of furniture, rendering it unusable. Wait, why did we decide to move again?? Teething continues. Or maybe it's the new house. Or something else. Who the hell really knows at this point. I throw all my sleep books away. Those 2 useful tips probably aren't so useful anyhow.
• Month 5: Exhaustion has set in. What happened to the first 6 weeks being the hardest?? Some other wise parents have suggested that it is not actually the first 6 WEEKS that are the most difficult, but the first six MONTHS. We cling to this hope.
• Month 5 continues: I can feel little teeth poking through her bottom gums. She sleeps one night from 8pm-6am. Hallelujah! Maybe the day IS darkest just before the dawn. We are beginning to feel settled in our new house, no small feat with the demands of the little lady. We still cling to the hope of it getting easier around 6 months. The rewards of parenting are beginning to show. She is readily laughing and babbling and just pretty darn cute all around. We are really wondering if maybe it never gets easier, the smiles just provide a pretty great balm for the loss of sleep, constant laundering, and general loss of life as we knew it.

So that pretty much sums up our time thus far! Thought it would be fun to have a place to post updates, videos and pics, so we can share all of our little ladies' feats.

Stay tuned for updates of the 2nd 6 months. Hopefully our wise friends are correct and it won't be another 6 months before I have a chance to give another update!

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