SWAGGER WAGON

I was watching this while nursing (too much info?) and was laughing so hard Harper kept looking up at me like, "Excuse me? I'm trying to eat here and you're being quite disruptive." On my way to buy my very own Swagger Wagon...

Home

I have had requests for pictures of our house. We are renting a cute, old house in the east end of Boise. If you know anything about Boise, the east end has a reputation. Granola. Priuses. Bicycles. Recycling. Organic. Peace Love & Harmony. So we fit in well...with our old Honda Civic, loud motorcycle, huge army green Chevy blazer and our non-organic food. But we really love it. So here are a few pictures. We've also just planted a garden(everyone PLEASE pray something grows) but it's too early to take pictures because things are still tiny. (And it's raining outside and I have a sleeping baby on my chest so I really don't want to go take pictures.) But if things start to grow I'll share photos then. These photos were taken a couple months ago, so things look better now, but you get the idea.

Front

(What you can't see is that behind that carport is a detached garage that is probably as big as the house. A TON of storage.)

Deck and backyard

That strip on the left (kind of hard to see) is where our garden is planted. And you can see that we've planted some things in pots on the deck. That's what happens when you get plant-happy in a nursery.

From the back fence looking at the house

(Detached garage on your left)

Bathroom

View #1 of Harper's room

View #2 of Harper's room

Please notice the painting Brenda (Chase's mom) did for her. LOVE IT! It matches perfectly.

Living room view #1-from the front door.

The space behind this couch will be a craft area as soon as I get a desk to put against the wall under that big 4-panel wall hanging.

Living room view #2.

I now have lovely curtains to hang on the big window. Now I just need to iron them and hang them up. I will....soon.

Kitchen

Laundry room.

(LOVE having a laundry room!)

Our bedroom.

With a cute baby.

And yes, it is bare. It will forever be the last room we decorate. But I do want to do a cute headboard of some kind. Suggestions??

And would it be a blog post without a picture of the Harpo? I don't think so. This is her new favorite toy--her exersaucer. She can't totally sit up in it yet, but she's content with leaning. And it beats lying down...she's SO over lying down! That's for babies.

The babe

An update...

Cuddling with her Mama...I love it!

On a nice, springy day. (Which have come and gone. We are FINALLY getting some sunshine and warmer weather again.)

This was at my parents' house. She liked taking a bath with that other cute baby. :)

We had a great (albeit too short) weekend at my family's house. Our pictures turned out GREAT (thanks Aubrey & Sam!)...I will share them as soon as I get them. We had fun just hanging out and talking and eating. (Got to fit in the Cafe Rio and Taco Amigo whenever you can.) Harper was the star of the show wherever we went, but what else is new? I also went with my mom to the nursery where she works to pick out plants for our garden. I am trying out my green thumb and hoping something will grow.

Harper just had her 4 month check up (she's actually 4 1/2 months) and she's doing great! She came in at 14 lbs 2 oz (75th percentile), 25 3/4 in long (97th percentile) and 80th percentile for head circumference. So we have a tall girl with a big head. :) That's the girl we love!

(Here's a sneak peek at the family photos...just to get you excited)

Welcome, Spring!

I'd just like to officially welcome Spring into our midst. Don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here it is absolutely gorgeous!!

Okay, now on to the real reason I'm posting (and the real reason anyone ever looks at this blog)...pictures of Harper! I'll try to keep the words to a minimum and let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

Bath time with the typical bath face...neither happiness nor sadness, just a little concern.

(Sorry, it won't turn. Sometimes I hate blogger.) Harper loves to nap on Daddy's chest. Chase is happy to oblige.

In February Harper got RSV. It was pretty scary. So hard to see her sick and having such a hard time breathing. To help her breathe we had to give her breathing treatments with an inhaler hooked up to this chamber. Sometimes she's smile through the whole thing, but usually she'd scream. After nearly 2 weeks being sick she finally got over it and has been great ever since!

My mom came to visit back in February...just because. It was so great to have her here. Harper clearly loves her.

Isn't this the cutest? Daddy and Daughter just smiling at one another. I love it. I love them.

For some reason I love her all snuggled in her car seat. She just looks so plump and adorable.

Harper playing with her cousin, Bennett. They're pals.

This is clearly an outfit chase got for Harper. It's from Cabelas. He's bought her 2 outfits all on his own...and they're both camouflage items.

She's finally graduated out of being bundled. She likes to have her arms free..."stick 'em up" style.

Easter. In her adorable Easter dress my mom made for her. She looked so cute. She's such a happy girl!

Pooped out from all the Easter festivities.

Look at how big she is! She can hold her head up pretty well. Still a bit wobbly but she loves to look all around and see the world.

(Again, sorry...won't rotate.) This was last Sunday. This is the same outfit she wore when we had photos taken when she was a week old. She definitely fills it out more now! I think it's adorable--very girly!

My two favorite people in the world, hanging out together. Chase was doing something on the computer and she was so interested in whatever it was. I was trying to capture that but got big smiles from both of them instead. Priceless.

We are all doing well. Chase is getting ready to start the summer field season at work, which means that he'll get to ride around the forest on a 4-wheeler again instead of staring at a computer screen. He's obviously excited. I'm blessed to stay home with Harper-loo. About a month ago I started babysitting a little 2-year-old girl named Anna. It's full time and is working out really well. It's nice to be able to contribute financially while staying home with the babe. Best of both worlds.

We just moved into a little house (still renting, not buying) that is about 4 blocks from our apartment. Kind of a pain to move again, but so worth it. We have so much more space and a yard and a deck and we just love it. Now I need to get some vegetable plants and flowers and get the place dressed up. We are in our same ward, which we love, and we love living in Boise.

Life is good. We are headed to Utah this weekend to get family pictures taken with my fam. SO excited for that! My mom is the only one that has seen Harper (and Chase and I...but we're not important) since her blessing. It's been waaaay too long! Wish us luck on our first travelling adventure with Little Miss!

Harper loves Daddy

Some of the sweetest moments in my life are when I can see how much Chase loves Harper. He is such a wonderful Daddy. Not only does he provide for his little family financially, but he takes such great care of me and of our sweet babe. He bathes her, changes her, and loves on her. Here are just a few pictures of little Harpo and her Daddy.

We have a one!

Yes, that's right. We no longer have a newborn, we have a one. For those of you not in the diaper world, they (the diaper makers of the universe), make different sizes of diapers and "code" them with numbers/letters. "N" for newborn-10 lbs, "1" for 10-16 lbs, etc. We have used our final "N" diaper (thank goodness...one too many leaks for me!) and are on to the "1." I can't believe Harper is this big already! She's a 1!

6 Weeks

Well, I continue my monthly posting. Oops. The last 6 weeks have been crazy, wonderful, tiring, exciting, eventful, overwhelming....the list goes on and on. Such a mix of emotions, but I thinkhappy is the key word. We love our little Harper so much. She brings so much happiness, peace, and joy to our home. Chase and I are a better couple because of her. And we're learning to be good parents.

As of this past Saturday, Harper is 6 weeks old. She is about 10 lbs (she's gained over 3 lbs since birth!) and 21 1/2 inches long. She seems so big already! She is smiling a lot and loves to be cuddled. We've had a lot of family around, which has been wonderful.

Here are a bunch of photos of random things...from the hospital to home to family loving on Harper. Most of them are self-explanatory, so I'm not going to write much. (A couple of them wouldn't flip...I stopped trying.)

At the hospital...

Going home...(these clothes are now quite snug on her, but she swam in them when we brought her home)

First carseat ride

Chase brought these flowers home for his 2 girls :)

First bath

She loves to snuggle with Daddy

...and sometimes Mommy

First stroller ride

She's a little small for it, but she likes to go for rides in her Snuggli. And that way I can get some stuff done!!

Trying to train her to be a reader

Cousin Bennett (3 1/2)

Cousin Madelyn (1 1/2)

First day at church

After-church nap with Dad

Dad made her into a Ninja

Going out on the town

Cute little bum

Hope you enjoyed the many pictures. I'll try to post more often so it's not so overwhelming. But she sure is cute!!