sara ivy & harper shalom ivy

 2 very sweet and lovely girls on a midwest summer day 

Those smiles brighten up the cloudiest of days!

10 months

Happy 10 months Harper Shalom Ivy!!!

10 months ago today, you came into our lives and captivated us at first glance. 

There isn't a day that we don't thank God for you!

We love you to pieces, sweet pea.  

busy day

You wake up, my little one

Your busy day has just begun

Exploring and playing are on your agenda

but you spare 15 minutes to sit with your momma.

Your soul is still while you sit with me

no buttons to push or things to see

I'm all yours and you're all mine

You look into my eyes and I lose track of the time.

Your eyes start diverting to the toys on the floor

I always try to steal you for a couple minutes more

but my time is up, it was short, but oh so sweet

and I set you down right at my feet.

Off you go on the race of your busy day

so much to see, so much to play.

Exploring, talking, tasting, playing

laughing, learning, clapping, waving. 

And like a stream always finds its way to the sea,

you, my girl, find your way back to me.

Two big brown eyes looking up from below

I'll hold you again till your ready to go. 

I'll always be here, little one, ready to hold you

I'll always cherish my 15 minutes and hope to steal more.

I'll hold you now and even when you walk out the front door

I'll hold you when you're happy and when you are sad

Harper, I'll hold you no matter what kind of day you have.

When you're too big to sit on my lap

we'll just have to find a bigger chair

Cause at the end of all our busy days, 

Let's always find 15 minutes to spare.

one of those moments.

Oh my.

You are so big!

and lovely.

and silly.

and strong.

and so full of life.

and so healthy.

and so incredibly smart.

and oh. so. stubborn.

and joyful.

and busy.

and you are so OURS.

Oh my.

We love you so.

yum yum in the tum tum

Since the middle of April, Harper has been getting snacks.  The can says "Graduates." She is already graduating?!?

Sheeesh. It seems like I just had her... graduating?!?

 Nonetheless she sure does LOVE them! And she got the hang of her snack cup within minutes :)

 She uses her pincher fingers perfectly, which is extremely encouraging to me working with kiddos who have that as a goal to learn by the end of the year. Yay for getting those fine motor skills down Harper.girl!!!!

 Happy.face

 Our big girl with all her hair!

 Getting so big.

So fast. 

So very fast.

i'm a big kid now!

The beginning of April, Harper started to pull herself up on furniture!

Almost there!!! [The tongue helps her out] :)

 YAY!!!!!

Such a proud face!!!

This was 2 weeks ago. You should see how effortlessly she gets up now...

far and away

We have regular skype dates with Harper's GiGi and GDubb. It's the only way they can talk with her and see her grow. They are always amazed at how big she has gotten!

It's pretty cute to watch Harper try to figure it out :) 

I love their faces...

Bitty seeing what the fuss is about. 

It'll have to do for now :)

8 months and counting

Happy 8 months little girl!!!

what a precious gift you are.

harper's 1st easter

We made some easter cookies.

John worked in the morning and then we took family photos outside, despite the cold, wet weather.

And Harper wore [with lots of fidgeting and pulling] her easter bonnet. :)

A small break in our festivities were required due to Harper choking on a piece of foil from a Cadbury egg. But after a trip to the ER, an x-ray and lots of baby puke, she finally coughed it up and got the ok to leave. 

Crisis averted and moving on...

 We dyed and decorated eggs.

We put together Harper's first easter basket. The baby lamb is from her great grandma Osburn :)

Then I delivered Easter goodies to our 3 neighbors. 

It was a very eventful and fun day. And a very memorable 1st easter for our girl :)