June Blogs

I got behind with blogs, but got tons written this week (since it's summer and we suddenly have nothing to do...smile.)

Sweet Lily

Focusing on the Moment

Nikki is in town!

The Ark

The Ark

We went to an indoor play area called, The Ark, at First Baptist Church of Coppell this week.  It's been 100 degrees and a baby can play inside for only so long before boredom sets in.  So we met our friends, The Hunts, and spent Friday morning playing and hanging out.

Off she goes!

There was a big kid area that we went in, once.  I followed Katharine up there, crawling, ducking, letting 5 year olds push pass me.  We got to the top and slid down the huge slide, which I think Harper enjoyed.  It was fun, but I think I'll let Cody take her next time.

She really enjoyed the little kids area.  It had gym toys to crawl on and puzzles on the walls.  She didn't have much interest in the slide even though that's all her friend Avinley wanted to do.  Sadly, many kids didn't get to slide because Avi was sitting at the bottom.  

All the bigger girls wanted to play with her. 

But eventually Harper wanted to crawl up the ramp into the play area.  So up she went.  She sat there for a bit, taking it all in.  There wasn't much to do.  Crawl from ramp to the slide and back.  But she thoroughly enjoyed doing that.  So while Avinley took up the slide, Harper took up the crawl space.  And us moms just sat and talked about our crazy kids.  

30 minutes later, I realized that she couldn't get down.  She didn't mind it so much, but she was kinda stuck.  I eventually went in after her, up the slide and through the crawl space.  I tried to show her how to sit on her butt and get down, but she just wasn't interested.  Another mom told me that she had to crawl up there to get her little boy when she was 8 months pregnant, and not to worry - even if they fall it's all padded.  So in the end, she had a BLAST and we'll definitely go back next week.  

Nikki is in town!

My dear friend, Nikki, was in Dallas last week and we got to visit!  Her husband, Todd, is a youth minister at a church in Midland, so they spent the week with their youth group at a camp at Christ for the Nations.  We don't get to visit very often because they live so far away, but we talk and video chat sometimes and find ways to keep in touch.  Nikki is that friend that, no matter how long it's been, we pick right up where we left off.

I don't have tons of pictures for this blog.  We only got to hang for about an hour while we ate dinner.  But I had such a good time in that hour, that I wanted to get it written down.

We were eating dinner.  We had given each other a quick update on how our lives were going.  Harper was entertaining the restaurant, as usual.  And she just started in.  On what was REALLY going on in their lives.  What God was doing.  How God was moving.  We REALLY talked.

One of my favorite things about the Gatlin's is their trust in God and their trust in what He has in store for them.  They just take it all in stride and know that God will guide them and point them in the direction He wants them to go, whether they understand it now or have no idea what's coming.  And even better than that, they share everything that God is doing in their lives with others.  They are always telling people about how God has spoken to them or shown them what to do.  And that's what God desires.  For us to further His Name, His Kingdom, to spread His Gospel.

When I left Nikki, I felt refreshed.  I felt like I wanted to sit down with others and do the same thing - share how God has moved recently in my life.  I've missed having opportunities lately where I share more than just the paint colors I picked out or how Harper's doing.  I miss sharing my struggles, my prayers, my joys.  But I am grateful that Nikki reminded me how easy it can be.

So I will remember that and try to be more meaningful in my conversations.  And I know that in turn, God will guide me to others who need to hear about God moving, too.

Focusing on the moment

Usually, I am trying to do 100 things all at once and nothing ever gets my full attention.  I'm trying to feed Harper and clean the kitchen.  I'm trying to play with her and check email.  I'm trying to fold laundry and keep her out of trouble.  It never works good for anyone because I'm over worked and Harper knows that she doesn't really have all of me.

The other night, Cody and I were both in her room and we ended up staying in there for over an hour just playing and hanging out.  It's funny how relaxing it was and how we were both content to just be in the moment for that time.  Harper enjoyed it completely, have both of our attention focused on her.  We played with her kitchen, her books, and she just kept going back and forth between us.  She had a blast.  

It was a nice evening and it just reminded me to stop and be in the moment sometimes.  I will never be able to stop multi-tasking completely.  There is just too much to do.  But I need to try to give Harper my full attention everyday for a while so she knows that she is more important than dishes, laundry, and email.

Sweet Lily

My good high school friend, Amanda, just had her sweet baby, Lily.  I can't believe how beautiful she is and what a huge amount of hair she has.

I still remember coming home during college to see Amanda when she had her first little girl, Rylie.  She was an amazing mom then, and I know she's going to be such a great mom to Lily too!

Harper girl is 12 months!

1 year!  I just can't believe it.  She is 12 months old and such a cute little stinkpot.  She is 28 inches tall, weighs 21 1/2 pounds and is always smiling.  She is in 9 month tops and 12 month bottoms and somewhere between a size 3 shoe in length and a size 5 shoe in width (such chubby feet!).  She is such a happy little girl.  Always laughing, playing, and making everyone else fall in love with her.   Her Mimi always calls her a "self esteem booster" to everyone that meets her because she makes you feel like the most amazing person on earth.

I have been saying for months that I was hoping she would be walking by our beach vacation.  She was taking steps a few weeks ago, but was not officially walking.  On day 2 of our vacation, she just took off and became an official walker.  She wanders the house now, just toddling along.  She's happiest when she can carry something in her hands.  I think she feels all grown up and important.

First picture of her walking

Our car battery died at the store and we had to wait for Cody to come get us.  

She had a blast playing in the front seat.

She still says mama, dada, dog but has now added the ability to tell us no.  Not in words, but in a sweet, smiley shake of the head.  It mostly has to do with food.  Telling us that she doesn't want more or that she doesn't want to eat her peas.  It's pretty cute right now.  She also got two more teeth (her top front teeth) while we were on vacation.  Poor kiddo woke up screaming two nights in a row and had a new tooth each morning.  She seems to be doing better but is still gnawing on everything in reach.

Playing golf with the dog in her kiddy pool

Her first bikini (I can't believe I let her out of the house like this!)

She loves the water table and she can play with it while we eat dinner on the patio.

She doesn't watch much TV, maybe 10 minutes at a time if she's grumpy or tired or I need a few minutes to do something.  But if there is anything that she likes, it's definitely Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  When the intro song comes on, she starts bouncing up and down and smiling real big.  She watched it with her cousin Grayson a few times and they were so cute sitting together enjoying the great Mickey Mouse.

(Not) Helping me pack for our vacation

First night wearing big girl pj's

She has suddenly become very attached to her pacifier.  She wants one all the time.  We give her a few at night in her crib because she sometimes loses them in the middle of the night.  She will also sit in bed and switch them out.  Put one in, find another, switch it out, repeat.  And she's pretty skilled at turning it around in her mouth if she puts it in upside down.

AC on full blast

Doing her indian war cry

She loves almost all foods but definitely wants to be eating what Cody cooks us for dinner.  She stares at us, mouth open, and holds out her hand begging for a bite.  She now gets to eat a morning and an afternoon snack.  She LOVES cheerios and nutri grain bars.  I subbed in the church nursery last week and witnessed her crawl on top of another child to get to the cheerios first.  We are stopping the bottle so we are still up in the air with the milk situation.  We will see if she is still lactose intolerant or if she has outgrown it.

Her favorite cabinet has the cereal boxes so all morning she likes to walk 

around carrying one while Maggie follows her, eating the dropped Cheerios

Snack time

The first time she tried one of these fruit puree pouches, she didn't care for 

it much and squeezed it all over herself and me.  I handed it to Grayson, 

because he was the closest, and the next thing I knew he had drank the whole thing.  

She is on a pretty good schedule right now.  She wakes up at 6:30 and we get her at 7.  Sadly, she doesn't know the meaning of sleeping in, but it all works in the end.  Breakfast at 7:30, then we clean up the kitchen together and pick up the house.  We usually play in her room for an hour or run errands.  Snack at 10, lunch at 11:30 and nap at 12:30.  She goes to sleep all on her own, no crying, and sleeps for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Have a snack, play outside, take a walk, or play around the house.  Dinner at 5:30 and bath at 7:00.  She loves bath so I let her play for awhile.  Put on her big girl PJ's and spends time drinking her bottle with her Dad.  Then it's off to bed at 7:30.  We sing a song, pray for Harper and any of her friends that we think of, and then she cuddles up and falls asleep.  We enjoy some time to ourselves and go to bed a happy little family.

Pooped in the tub, picked it up like it was a toy, had to get out real quick.  

Finished bathing in the sink.  Glad Dad was home to help this time.

On Cody's last day of school, they worked until 8pm.  This was sent to Cody 

with a text that said, "Night Daddy. Pooped in tub.  Be glad you weren't here."

Riding the "tractor"

She is definitely in the phase of throwing temper tantrums but it really doesn't last long.  She usually gets upset because we won't let her play in the dog's water bowl, the trashcan, the toilet, the cleaning cabinet, electrical plugs, all the fun stuff.  We say "No no."  I use my deep, scary voice, which of course doesn't phase her.  But the minute you take her away from what she wants, she starts to cry, scream, fuss, whine, etc.  Usually falling to the ground, looking up at you with sad little eyes and that bottom lip out. It's sad and cute all at the same time.  Hopefully this phase won't last too long.

She keeps finding pens and paper and wants to write like Mommy.

Loves to help clean, sweep, and do laundry.  Still hates the vacuum. 

Helping Dad put in the new baseboards

Here's to surviving 1 year as new parents and coming out the other side with a happy, 

healthy, little girl.  Hopefully the next year is just as fun!

Birthday Photo Shoot

Happy Birthday Harper Elizabeth!

We took pictures of Harper for her first birthday invites.  We took them at the pond in the park behind our house.  She's such a cutie and Cody took amazing pictures.  This was the start of the party planning madness.  More on that later.