Unconditional Love: It's finally fall!

School has started and the weather is cooler. I absolutely love fall weather. Cool in the mornings so you get to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Sunshine in the afternoons so you get to feel the sun's warmth. Perfect in the evenings so you could just play outside for hours. It's absolutely perfect.

Hanging outside with Dad while he fixed his boat

Cody's school has kept him busier than normal. But the other day he got great praise from his principal, so he feels like it is worth it. So we wait by the door or go out front and wait for him to get home each day. She takes a minute to make sure who it is, and then she waddles her cute self over and jumps into his arms. I love how much she loves him. It's so cute.

We are spending lots of time outdoors now. We have learned the joys and messes of sidewalk chalk. I learned that playing in the dirt and mulch is more fun than outdoor toys. She has figured out how to get up and down all the steps by herself and she does this for awhile each day. She loves to be out back while Cody hits the ball to Maggie. When Maggie catches it, Harper claps and giggles really loud. And her newest trick is finding and pointing out airplanes. She loves to hear them and look around till she finds them. Crazy enough, sometimes she points and it takes us a minute or so to find them because the plane is so far away. She's got a good eye.

Pointing at an airplane as she dragged her bag of cheerios around the house

Most things about Miss Priss are the same. Loves to read. Loves her dollhouse, kitchen, and motorcycle. Loves getting stuff out of our kitchen cabinets, playing makeup with mom in the morning, dancing to the ipod, stacking coffee k-cups on the windowsills, etc. Her new toys include a stroller for her baby, a play vacuum, and an animal alphabet train set. She loves her new toys (so do I - they were garage sale treasures!). We also finally built her a learning tower and she is always saying "Up, Up" so she can see what we are doing at the counters.

Snack time lasts longer when you put them in a muffin tin

Sweet Harper had her 15 month checkup at the beginning of September. It was a little early but we needed to get some answers from her doctor. Turns out that it's ok for her to be off milk now. We are just going to stop forcing the milk issue. She does have to take vitamins and get extra veggies and sun to make up for it, but now everyone seems happy. She weighed 22 lb. and was 28 in tall. That's 75% for weight and 15% for height. It's that belly and those thighs! The doctor said she is perfect and seems to be a happy, healthy little girl.

Made a mohawk with all the food she rubbed in her hair during dinner

Learning to use a spoon (with Lactose Free Yogurt that she actually loves!)

Learning to dip her chicken in Chik Fil A sauce (a must!)

We are on a pretty good schedule, but it's funny how we've loosened up a bit. She seemed to stop napping most of this summer. We tried putting her down earlier, later, etc. Nothing has really worked. So we've just decided that we'll just try and if she doesn't sleep well but can still be a happy girl at night, then that's what we'll do. It's so funny how hard we held on to that schedule at the beginning. You just want everything to go as smooth as possible, so you try to control everything about your baby. Now, you realize that it will all work out in the end, and if not, tomorrow's another day to try again.

We had our first playgroup the other day at our house. Harper absolutely loved seeing all the kids - she is a true people watcher. There were 4 bigger kiddos and at one point, she just sat down in the hallway and watched them run back and forth. Playgroups are great because the kids have friends to play with and the adults have other adults to actually converse with. It was a great morning and I'm excited for the next one.

First Playgroup

Impromptu play time at the mall one rainy day with the Hunts

Sewing napmats for our friends the Longs (twins in our playgroup)

We've also been spending lots of time with family. Usually we go to my sister's once a week and to my parents in Argyle once a week. Kristen is home with Reese (who is only 3 weeks old!) and we love getting to see them. I even got to hold her the other day and she didn't cry. Love my sweet niece! And Harper always has fun with their dog Bentley. We also have fun visiting my parents and sisters. Kristi lets me run errands and then fixes us dinner (such a treat!) Harper enjoys everyone but loves their dogs too. She can actually lay on Pumpkin and hug her. Harper really does love dogs more than people.