On the Road with Brent & Erika

Camping in Austin

2012-02-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

In January, we went on a good 'ole road trip with my mom, Ricky and Kim. We wanted Kim to get to see Austin during her time in Texas, and we wanted to do a little camping, so we combined it all into one trip! On the way down, we stopped for some kolaches in West and some barbecue.

Very yummy barbecue at Louis Mueller's on the way to Austin. Brent says best ribs he has eaten.

We didn't use tents this time, but stayed in a "shelter" instead. There was electricity and a sink and a large room of bunk beds. Harper slept in her pack and play in the same room as the bunk beds. She did a great job but would wake up before daylight saying hi to each of us. When pretending to be asleep no longer worked, we then gave her a stack of books and a flashlight and that surprisingly bought us a little more time of rest each morning. Funny girl!

The shelter was also nice because it did rain one night, and we didn't have to worry about everything getting wet and having to pack up a soggy tent at the end. We had a nice bit of land around our shelter that Harper loved to explore as well.

Harper collected rocks and sticks and she and Ricky liked trying to throw rocks over the little rock wall. Well, Ricky made them over quite easily with a legitimate throw, and Harper would practically scale the wall and then proceed to plop the rock over on the other side.

Kim playing with Harper in the chilly but sunny weather

Each night Brent and Ricky built praiseworthy camp fires, which we sat around for hours after putting Harper to bed. We went into Austin each day for lunch and shopping, but cooked out hamburgers, hot dogs and s'mores at night.

One night my mom stayed back at camp with Harper while Ricky, Brent, Kim and I went around 6th street and saw a concert (Frank Fairfield and Cass McCombs) at Stubbs.

Harper liked hiking but did not want to be carried in a carrier or on anyone's shoulders. She had to walk all by herself!

Little Miss hiking like she owned the place

But after awhile she was tired out and sat down to play with rocks. Nana was wonderful enough to plop down with her and hang out while we continued on.

Natural shelter

After so much hiking and exploring, Harper knew it was time to relax in her own little camping chair and take a load off with a snack. It makes me laugh how slouched and relaxed she looks. :)

On our last morning, we ate breakfast burritos at Mariana's Kitchen...yum!

Then we headed for Zilker Park for some play before heading home.

Harper and Nana took a 25 minute train ride through the park. Harper called the train "Percy" because of its green color.

Harper loves Kim and Kim has taught Harper some Korean phrases. Now Harper says, "An nyoung," to Kim, which means "hello" in Korean.

If you're interested, check out Frank Fairfield tearing up the fiddle.

December 2011

2012-01-12T14:57:00.002-06:00

Our December was full of one family gathering after another! It was busy but lots of fun, and I love that Harper has so many wonderful family members to love on her. Brent's folks organized a family photo shoot with a photographer and Mimi's grandkids Wesley and Caroline were in town from Tennessee. We took some candid shots as well, and here are some from that day...

Caroline, Harper and Wesley

Addy and Harper

The professional group shot with Addy and Harper holding hands

Playing with some rocks (of course)

Blowing a dandelion

Holton hanging out on Brian's shoulders

And our favorite was this professional one of Harper...such a sweetie!

We also took a little family trip to the Arboretum on a nice day in December...

We brought along a little picnic lunch.

A girl's gotta have coordinating sunglasses!

Studying the fish up close

Sitting in a covered wagon with Daddy

This was Brent's family's year for Christmas, but we did Christmas a week early with my family. Ricky arrived on December 12th from Korea with his girlfriend Kim, who has never been to Texas. They get to stay for over two months, so we will have lots of time to be with them and show Kim some of the South!

Harper helped hang ornaments at Nana's house

Opening her Dora guitar from Ricky and Kim

She was really excited about a little blue flashlight she got for Christmas and was checking out the light's effect on a sucker.

Granddad and Harper spent a LOT of quality time together in the backyard. They were doing some nature studies and forming letters out of sticks.

And now onto Christmas with Brent's family. Brent's sister Amy, her husband Clay and their four kids (ages 8 to 15) drove in on the 20th from Tennessee. We got to spend a week with them and now, two weeks later, Harper is still talking about all of her cousins. I cannot emphasize enough how much she loves her cousins! Right now Harper is into having us make up songs at night when we sing to her, and every night she asks for us to sing a song about her cousins. So we oblige...again and again. :)

Harper and Addy laughing and being silly

An example of how sweet our Tennessee nieces and nephews are...Harper would lead the cousins in follow-the-leader activities. They would race behind her and imitate her every move. What a sense of power our two-year-old must have felt! :) She couldn't get enough of it!

More Harper-led moves!

"Everybody, arms up!"

Harper especially connected with her 15-year-old cousin Faith. Faith spent the night at our house one night and played with Harper for hours. When Faith said goodbye to Harper, she gave her her own red headband, and Harper cherishes it. When we make up our "cousin" songs at night, Harper asks that the red headband be included in the song lyrics.

On the 23rd, we had an extended family gathering with Brent's dad's side of the family. We were also celebrating Brent's grandma's 96th birthday!

Grandma Grace with all of her great-grandkids!

And the whole group--not bad for a timer shot!

Singing Happy Birthday

T-Pa reading to Harper

And on Christmas Eve, we had a barbecue lunch with some of Brent's mom's side of the family.

Brent and his Grandma Crickett

Crickett with some of her great-grandkids

Making some silly faces for the camera

"Cheese!"

Merry Christmas, sleepyhead!

After having Christmas morning at our individual houses, we all met for brunch at Mimi and T-Pa's house. It was a relaxing day of hanging out and eating good food!

Harper listening to a little book she got for Christmas

Mimi and T-Pa gave the girls a very fun bubble gun. This picture might look a little like Brent is assaulting Harper with bubbles, but she loved it.

Harper in her Christmas dress this year

I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To the Zoo!

2011-11-30T13:06:00.000-06:00

During the month of November, we were able to make not one, but two trips to the zoo! Our first trip was with Tobin, Marin and Parker to the Dallas Zoo. They have a zoo membership this year and were sweet enough to get us in for free as well! Leading up to the trip, all Harper talked about was seeing monkeys, snakes and giraffes. Well, we checked off all items on her list!

The giraffes will eat lettuce out of your hands, but the set of giraffes out in the feeding pen that day were all shy and wouldn't approach us. Next time we will call ahead and make sure we go on an outgoing giraffe day! :) It was a fun day!

Marin and Harper looking at the elephants. They rode in the double stroller some but were happier wearing themselves out walking.

This giraffe would eat from his pumpkin feeder, but not from us.

A really cool fish tank at the girls' eye level

Sweet Marin

Sitting on an elephant statue

"Let me just study up on this animal for a bit."

And we didn't leave out the snakes and other reptiles!

Harper and Marin helped Tobin push Parker in the stroller.

Harper's first carousel ride. She wasn't keen on sitting on an animal yet and chose the more conservative bench. :) Marin was sweet to go along.

Thanks for a very fun day to the zoo!

Our next zoo trip was over the Thanksgiving break in Ft. Worth with Nana. I have always loved the Ft. Worth zoo, especially how close you can get to all the monkeys and gorillas.

Excited to see a gorilla so close through the glass!

Checking out an orangutan

Although there were some zebras just across the water, I believe Harper was more enthralled with the common ducks in the pond. She didn't really realize which animals were "exotic" and would get just as into a duck or a turtle.

You could feed the parakeets on these birdseed sticks. When Harper held it and a bird landed on the stick, she would get flustered and fling the stick to the ground. Perhaps she shares my love of birds. :) Large groups of birds freak me out.

Eating a picnic lunch with Nana

Nana helped Harper get a good view of the fish.

We rode the little train around too. Harper loved that!

Another fascination for Harper that day was this lizard statue. She was using it to prepare her for this...

...touching a real snake! We will have to teach Harper to be leery of snakes as she seems to like them and had no qualms about touching it.

Taking a short rest after walking herself ragged.

And just a few more random pics...

Getting her daily dose of Barney...you can see he brings her great joy!

Brent and Harper took a Daddy/daughter trip to the mall one Saturday. Brent said Harper watched the ice skaters FOREVER! Patient Daddy.

Being silly

Halloween 2011

2011-11-09T22:20:00.000-06:00

We had some back-to-back Halloween fun times this year. First a combined small group Trunk R Treat with our church and then some traditional neighborhood trick-or-treating on Halloween night. This was Harper's first year to go trick-or-treating. Last year she was sacked out at Tami and Zack's before the candy-fest even began. But this year, she really got it. We have a bit of work to do on our Halloween etiquette though. Harper wouldn't say trick-or-treat and instead, she walked up to people, hand already reaching into their candy bowl saying, "More." Ummm, we'll work on that.

Who could say no to this little dalmatian?

Saying hi to Chef Aubrey at the Trunk R Treat

And making some small talk with Samuel, AKA "Buzz"

Going from car to car...

Sweet girls starting in on the candy

Beckham had some mean lightsaber skills!

And one of our youngest small group friends, Cowboy Bryce

But truly the youngest is sweet little Hailey with her mommy Allie.

I like to call this one Brent's paparazzi, "They're just like us!" photo. Makes me laugh.

Harper was drawn mostly to suckers (although she discovered that she likes Whoppers too) and wanted to sit down and get this party started!

There were various games at some of the cars...

...and Harper got her first temporary tattoo like the big kids.

She finally got to open a sucker.

Cutest Strawberry Shortcake on the swing

The boys started a soccer game.

Three in a row on the slide...how cute is Ryleigh's bee costume!

Kid group shot...quite an accomplishment I'd say.

Hood off at the end of the evening checking out the jack-o-lantern...still working on that sucker!

We were sad that our standing Halloween tradition was incomplete without the Pruett gang Halloween night. They were a little under the weather. After eating dinner, we headed out for a trick-or-treat adventure.

Excited for the fun to begin...

"Trick-or-treat!"

We came upon this one house with a transformed "spooky" garage. It really seemed quite scary, but Harper wasn't phased and sauntered right in to check out the flying ghost.

Holding hands with Daddy

Afterwards there was a large grasshopper on the back porch that captivated the little girl audience, with mixed reactions.

Pumpkin paper weights to aid in our efforts to get a picture. :)

Admiring the results of a hard night's work

And here is a video Brent made of Harper's trick-or-treating adventure...

Pumpkin Patches

2011-11-01T16:02:00.001-05:00

We visited two pumpkin patches this year, one with a few friends and another with Brent after work. Both were so fun. I don't remember ever going to pumpkin patches as a kid. At least I don't have a zillion pictures with pumpkins as Harper already does! :)

Wearing a little pumpkin bling

Giggling with Aubrey

Couldn't resist posting this cute one of Ryleigh. She is "boo-tiful!"

A nearly impossible task getting toddlers to sit in one place and look at the camera all at once!

Harper loves Lydia! (whom she still calls Ya-ya)

Having fun on this foggy day!

Counting the little pumpkins

And here is the pumpkin patch with Brent. We first visited Brent at his new school and met some of his co-workers and saw his office. It was a good time to visit the pumpkin patch at around 5:00 because it wasn't very crowded.

Harper liked to say, "Oh! So heavy!" with the big pumpkins.

Running free!

The bounce houses were awesome because Harper LOVES to jump and she was often the only one in there. She got to jump to her heart's content.

Still jumping!

There was a section of various cartoon character wooden stand-ups. Harper wanted to check out the Yo Gabba Gabba crew. But she got the most excited to see her dear friend...

...Barney!

There were some wooden trains that Harper crawled around in. I love that sweet smile!

"Happy Halloween, everyone!"

Next up...trick-or-treating!

October Fun

2011-11-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

October is one of my favorite months of the year, and it has flown by this year! Brent had a state fair day in October so we took Harper to the fair for the first time. She loved the petting zoo and didn't want to leave, and she ate her first ever corny dog. We also checked out the bird show. Lots of fun and something we will make a yearly tradition.

Petting a zebra at the fair petting zoo

The kangaroo had an actual joey in her pouch that we could see sticking out!

And Harper's favorite were the pigs. There were lots of piglets and they were nursing from their mama. This is what Harper talked about the most following the fair.

Digging into her corny dog!

At the bird show, Harper sat down for a bit and studied the fair map with great interest. It reminded us of how fascinated she was with the in-flight safety guide on the way to Korea. She was getting our exit strategy all mapped out!

Also in October we had our 10 year Homecoming at ACU. I didn't feel like anyone looked different, but I'm sure we did look like the "oldies" to all those college babies! It was so fun hanging out with friends pretty much non-stop. And my mom came with us to look after Harper so we could be free to do all the different Homecoming events without having to worry about nap time or bed time.

At the Kojie breakfast early Saturday morning--we got those cute aprons to take home!

Tami and Kamara

Carolyn and Kate

At the Homecoming parade

Harper went to the parade and to chapel. She loved the singing. And I found myself tearing up when we sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" at the end.

After our class dinner, we went to a hotel for more hanging out. I love these girls! All in all, we stayed up ridiculously late three nights in a row, while getting up early as well. I got sick on Monday, I think from pushing myself too hard. So old!!! :) But a wonderful, action-packed weekend!

The weekend after Homecoming, Brent and I did our annual Hot Springs trip for the documentary film festival. This is ten years in a row we have gone and is a special tradition for us. This year we left Harper with Brent's folks, and she had a great time of being loved on and spoiled. And we had a fantastic time as well, although we didn't end up taking many pictures.

We also got to spend a week housesitting for Brian and Jenevieve while they were in San Francisco. We went to the park by their house which has great open spaces with tall trees. Harper loved running and gathering rocks and sticks...

Off she goes!

Showing me a rock she found

"I can almost reach it!"

Although it causes my some nervousness, Harper has really gotten brave in her climbing.

"I did it!" We hear that phrase a lot from Harper these days.

Sweet girl

Harper and Marin in pajamas one night. We watched Rangers game 6 together with Krister and Tobin...such drawn out heartache!

Harper got really into Addy's latch puzzle and figured out how to work all of them.

Well, that has been an overview of our October! Soon I will post pumpkin patch pictures and Halloween pictures. Harper is a dalmatian this year. Stay tuned!

Harper's First Haircut

2011-10-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

I had been feeling for the last while that it was about time for Harper to have her first haircut. It was all different lengths and layers, and--although this girl is always adorable--it was time for a bit more order in the hair department! So this Saturday Brent and I took her to a kid haircut place and met that first haircut milestone. She did so great, but first, here are some recent pics of Harper, pre-haircut. :)

In the dress Nana brought her back from Mexico

Playing at the park in the evening

Smiling at Daddy

Riding her horse, Rody, which was a birthday present from her Uncle Ricky

Some precious daddy/daughter moments, just hanging out in the backyard together

Harper and Brent love kicking the beach ball together!

Harper could pull off some adorable pigtails, but I know her hair will grow out long enough to do pigtails again soon!

"Okay, guys, I think I'm ready for my first haircut!"

Harper was unsure right at first as we put her in the chair and the hairdresser put the smock on her. But with a little encouragement and that purple thing she got to hold, Harper quickly decided all was okay.

Checking out the progress in the mirror...Harper kept saying, "First haircut!" during the whole event. We had checked out some haircut books from the library and had been talking it up all week!

The hairdresser woman was so nice and offered constant calm encouragement to Harper. And it was nice that there was a little TV for Harper to focus on at times.

Getting blow dried

"Ta-da! What do you think?"

Definitely a great experience, and we love her cute new 'do!

She got to pick out a sucker, got a prize, and got a little "first haircut" certificate with a lock of hair saved in a little baggy for the baby book.

Enjoying her sucker and feeling like a pretty big girl!

Best Cousins

2011-09-25T15:34:00.000-05:00

Addy and Harper have had several cousin hang out times lately. They have so much fun together! It is a joy to witness, and I love that they get to grow up together. Here are some pictures of their latest adventures...

They bounced this big purple ball together at Mimi and T-Pa's house...full of much laughter and giggles, of course!

Rolling around in the grass

Matching outfits!

Hamming it up

While Brent and Brian went to Austin City Limits, I got to babysit Addy and Holton for some of the day. Here the girls are sharing breakfast, ready for a day of fun!

Can't you tell from their expressions that they are having fun? :) I love how Harper is holding Adelyn's arm, and they had to have several stuffed animals come along on the walk as well.

No picture of Holton because he was strapped in the Bjorn with me!

Addy and Harper got engrossed with putting stickers on the window. Seeing them side-by-side hard at work on the windowsill was too cute.

Although most of these pictures are of Addy and Harper, we can't forget cousin Holton. Love that dimple!

On a different night, Harper and Addy shared a bath.

Addy poured water on Harper's head and Harper just laughed.

Cheese!

Brushing hair and teeth after bath

Once again, more cuteness on the shared step stool

Harper thinks Addy is so fun!

Here comes trouble!

And here's a video montage of the girls in action:

Harper's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-09-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

For Harper's 2nd birthday, we had a little celebration at the park with family and a few friends. Although it has been one crazy hot summer, nobody suffered heat stroke, so I think the party was successful! :) And we had a lot of fun too. Harper loves the splash park, so this was a good place for her to enjoy her special day.

Mimi walked with Harper from the pavilion to the splash park.

Harper had lots of fun! When the water would temporarily shut down, Harper would sweetly plead, "More water, please!"

Kate and Aubrey were tearing it up as well...

...as was Lydia...

...and Addy too!

It was great to have some of our friends there to celebrate with Harper. Here is Tami and Carly!

Harper's party was all pink and orange. Harper and Nana spent a lot of time blowing on these pinwheels we had as decorations.

Harper and Grandad

We had pizza for lunch, but there was lots of playing with sidewalk chalk both before and after.

Aunt Beth talking to sweet Ryleigh and holding Holton, who is now seven months old!

These cousins love each other! It is so fun to watch their relationship growing as they develop. They are usually shouting out silly things together and laughing.

The pink and orange strawberry cupcakes

It was a little too windy to get the candle lit, but Harper liked holding the candle and loved her cupcake!

Harper has loved all her presents! Here she is opening her new baby doll from Nana.

Can't have enough boas

Harper enjoyed pushing Addy around in her new baby stroller.

Harper also received a little potty seat for when we decide it's time to start potty training this year. It made me laugh how she was all down on the ground studying the picture as if she were reading a how-to manual.

Little Holton was a trooper but finally had to sack out. It was time for everyone to go home.

Now hopefully we can get on with some fall weather!

Look who's two today!!

2011-08-20T14:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that today Harper is a full-fledged two-year-old! We are thoroughly enjoying experiencing life through her eyes as she grows and discovers daily. We are blessed to be this little girl's parents! Here are some pictures since our return from Korea. More to come soon on Harper's birthday party!

We got to go to a lake and ride inner tubes with Harper. She loved it!

Harper likes going underwater and "swimming" to Daddy.

One of Harper's birthday presents from us was this mirror in her playroom and a bin of dress-up hats, scarves, necklaces, etc. She does love to accessorize!

One bracelet is definitely not enough!

For Jenevieve's birthday in July, #1 Chef Kathy showed us how to make her delicious roast, potatoes, and carrots!

We have gotten to play with Marin a few times, and here Harper and Marin are holding hands as they watch a show. They did that all on their own, and it just melted my heart.

Harper and Marin went to Indoor Safari Park together too and had fun in the ball pit...

...and jumping on the trampoline!

Harper also had a blast jumping on this trampoline with Lydia. This was at a gymnastics place where you could free play for an hour. I think we will definitely be going back!

For several weeks upon our return, we house and dog sat for my mom as she traveled with Ricky. This Sesame Street clubhouse belonged to me as a child, and it was Harper's favorite toy during our stay.

She also discovered the piano!

And she discovered that playing underneath the dining room table is lots of fun. She called it her "tunnel" and loved playing with Nana's fake fruits.

Recently we did a little two-year family photo shoot as well. Harper was not in a cooperative mood that morning, or perhaps she didn't like jumping right in with a stranger and taking photo after photo. My expectations were low as we left, but we still managed to come away with some cute ones and even got a couple of smiles...

And because I wasn't feeling too confident about our other photo shoot, I decided to take one of my own. It actually went much better with just Harper and me, and she was a little doll in her butterfly wings (part of her dress-up gift) and purple tutu.

When she wears her wings, she calls herself "Abby" from Sesame Street.

We love you, Harper, and can't wait to see what year number three has in store! Some things to remember about you right now are:

1) You love to sit on counter tops in the kitchen or bathroom and keep me company.

2) You often want me to be right beside you when you play these days...either sitting on the floor with you or sitting with you at your little table.

3) You love to hop and yell out, "Harper jumping!"

4) You are usually not hesitant in new play situations and jump right in the action. However, you don't always like being the center of attention.

5) In the morning you like to yell, "Mommy, Daddy, come here! Crib out!"

6) You really love to play with your kitchen still and will cook up the most interesting combinations of food--often you cook bracelets and necklaces. Visionary!

Video highlights from Korea/Japan

2011-07-19T21:42:00.007-05:00

We ran into this street band, Transparency, on our last night in Japan. It made for the perfect soundtrack to a little highlight reel of our trip. What a perfect way to wrap up our time there! John Denver would be proud...I think.

Japan

2011-07-16T21:06:00.035-05:00

We are home! Japan, the final leg of our journey, continued to deliver some great highlights and memories, although we were sad to leave Ricky and Kim in Korea. Japan is a place that has always fascinated Brent and me, and I am so happy that we were able to see a piece of it.

Mom, Ricky and Kim escorted us all the way to security at the airport. Now Mom and Ricky are trekking around the desert in Mongolia together!

A shot of us on the subway to the airport...Brent and I built some muscle hauling around a stroller, pack and play, car seat, suitcase and two backpacks. So different from traveling just the two of us! We missed Ricky's extra set of hands in Japan when it was just up to us to get our stuff from place to place.

In Japan we stayed at a hostel in the Asakusa area of Tokyo. After naps, we headed out to walk around and take in a late dinner. It was a lively scene!

Asakusa has more traditional Japanese culture in the middle of modern Tokyo, so it was not uncommon to see people dressed in kimonos and wooden shoes.

Harper tried really hard to use chopsticks! :)

Harper felt like a big girl holding onto the handles in the subway.

Our first full day in Japan, we woke up really early to check out the famous Tsukiji fish market. This place is seriously huge! It spans 55 1/2 acres and moves out more than 2,000 tons of fish per day. There is nothing that comes close to it anywhere else in the world. You just walk by rows and rows of every fish imaginable and dodge the motorized carts that swerve and bustle down the narrow aisles.

Harper stayed with me in the carrier for this experience. She would say, "More fish!" as if she were afraid we were about to stop seeing fish. Luckily she had plenty of acres of fish to see! Here you can see the most prized fish in the market, the giant tunas.

60,000 people work in the fish market daily and here are two making a deal.

Brent wanted to eat at Daiwa, which is said to have some of the best sushi in the world, and certainly the freshest. We stopped to ask directions on how to find the small restaurant, and this man told us to hop on his cart! He graciously maneuvered the maze and dropped us off right at the restaurant! We probably would have asked directions ten times if he hadn't!

We had to wait a long time to get in because the restaurant is only one small counter of seats. There is Brent at the counter.

Pretty artfully made piece of sushi

This sushi master prepared everything right in front of the customers.

After the fish market, we went to some nearby gardens to relax and let Harper run around.

And she ran around joyfully!

Pure joy as she ran up to Daddy.

Brent took his relaxation seriously.

Then for lunch we ate at a Japanese noodle place. Harper devours noodles in any form, so she loved this place.

In both Korea and Japan, everyone takes off their shoes before entering a living space. I thought it was sweet seeing Harper's little shoes among all the big ones each time.

That night we ate okonomiyaki, which is a savory Japanese pancake. The batter is mixed with whatever ingredients you choose and cooked on a hot skillet in front of you. Very fun and tasty, but also very hot!

And to conclude our full day, we went to Shibuya that night, which is the Time Square of Tokyo. Supposedly it is a little less "bright" since the earthquake and energy crisis, but we still were impressed with the sheer crowds.

Geisha girl we ran into in Asakusa

After visiting Seoul and Tokyo, the two largest cities in the world, we wanted to also experience a smaller aspect of Japan. So we left the next morning on a two hour train to Nikko, which is nestled in natural beauty. We immediately felt a little calmer as we stepped off the train. The hostel we stayed at was right on a river and Brent took a swim in it as often as he could.

We were surrounded by forest...

...and our private room (a former shipping container) had a wall of windows looking out on the river. We could hear it all night long and Harper was checking out the view wondering when she was going to get to swim in the river!

After naps, we spent the afternoon at the temples and shrines that Nikko is famous for.

The prevailing religion in Japan is Shinto. These women are tying on fortunes at the shrine.

A Shinto cleansing ritual

More Harper running around! She was a temple/shrine expert by the end of our trip. I'm sure she could tell you some key differences between Buddhist and Shinto holy places.

We had a neat experience after the temples as we were walking back to the train station to head back home for the night. We passed a store that advertised "cake bread," and I felt pretty sure Harper and I needed a piece of cake. As Brent and I were quietly haggling over whether the high price justified the piece of cake, we became engaged in stilted English conversation with the mother/daughter pair that was manning the store. We couldn't help but admire the hand crafted artwork for sale, which was done by the old woman's husband. They slashed the price more than half for us as we had struck a friendly bond at this point, and we did end up enjoying some delicious chocolate cake as the woman arranged flowers and taught us to say her name in Japanese.

The nice, witty woman from the cake bread store. We are happy to have her husband's artwork now in our home.

One of the highlights of our hostel (besides its location) was that the man who ran the hostel was a killer cook! He made an outstanding vegetable pizza for us for dinner and a huge breakfast each morning. Harper and I were both happy to get a little pizza!

The following day, we slept in and took a bus high into the mountains to see a very nice waterfall and a lake. Here is our family shot at the waterfall.

We ate fish on a stick and ice cream before we headed to the lake.

The beautiful lake...

...where a couple of men were fly fishing

We saw a nice deer close up...

...and Harper obligingly fell asleep in the carrier as we had a peaceful hike around the entire perimeter of the lake. The temperatures were nice and cool with the higher altitudes.

When she woke up, we sat by the water's edge and Harper collected rocks.

We capped off our day of nature with a family swim in the river. It was cold but felt so nice once you got used to it. Harper will sometimes sweetly give spontaneous Eskimo kisses, and she is doing that here.

She loved being lifted up and down by Daddy!

Our second night's dinner was also a treat. The man pictured is 85 years old, and his name is Noburusan. He makes his soba and udon noodles by hand, as well as grilled fish from the river and vegetables. It was delicious!

Harper was getting "done" with it all, and I was a little stressed as we were eating with other travelers from the hostel. I didn't want our toddler to be spoiling anyone else's dinner. Luckily Noburusan came to the rescue with this wooden toy where a ball rolls down and sets off these little chimes. It kept Harper entertained and happy, and he was sweet to interact with her and encourage her when she would roll the ball.

Back in Tokyo, Brent went out during Harper's nap and went up a tower for sprawling views of the city.

Interesting architecture

The under construction Tokyo Sky Tree at night--world's tallest concrete tower at over 2000 feet

Local temple in Tokyo...had to get one more temple in! :)

And our last night ended with a chance encounter with this fun street band called Transparency. They sang John Denver's "Country Road" for us, and the verses were in Japanese. We loved it, but Harper wasn't sure what to think of their boisterous energy.

Contemplating our time in Japan and wondering if we would survive 15 hours of air travel the next day.

Well, I will not lie and say the return trip was fun because the return trip is never as fun. Plus our long flight fell during the daytime, whereas on our arrival, it had been over the course of a night. So Harper didn't sleep nearly as much, so it felt LONG. Thank goodness for her favorite ladybug DVD, which she watched in its entirety probably three times. We are happy to be home, and jet lag adjusting has been easier on this end we have felt. Although Brent and I both agree that traveling in this manner with a toddler was definitely "work" at times, we had a wonderful trip and hopefully we are molding our little girl into a proper traveler! :)

Korea Part II

2011-07-09T01:00:00.001-05:00

Sadly, our time in Korea is almost over. I feel like we've really packed in the days with tons of great sights, good eats and lots of time with Ricky. It's been a learning curve traveling with a toddler, but we've hit our stride.

We visited Korea University, which is where Ricky is a professor of English. It was fun to see him in his element with students saying hi and stopping him to chat. We also ate at a nearby burger joint to commemorate July 4th.

Harper busted out the map to help us plan our next adventure to Seoraksan National Park.

We spent three days amidst the rocky mountains to the east of Seoul at the national park. There were numerous tunnels that our bus would pass through on the three hour ride there, and Harper learned to say, "Tunnel time!" as we would enter one and, "All done, tunnel!" as we exited. We all got to hear that probably twenty times.

We stayed along the river about a kilometer from the park entrance. There were picturesque views at each turn.

On our first day, we took a cable car up to a peak for a hike around. After some photo ops and chipmunk watching, Erika rested with Harper and ate Korean honey pancakes, while Ricky and I nearly missed the last cable car down while exploring a temple.

Quite a spectacular view of the Cheonbuldong Valley in one direction...

...while in the other direction is the city of Sokcho on the East Sea.

Ricky, Erika and Harper, who let us know that she preferred to be carried on the front now instead of the back.

Family shot on the bridge to the Shinheung Temple with Harper playing along showing her new "smile" face.

We were here right as the sun was setting and had the place virtually to ourselves.

Harper loves it when Mommy and Daddy let her loose to explore temples.

The ceiling above the chanting monk inside the main temple (see video below)

These peaceful fellows were sending out some Buddhist good vibes.

There were some nicely aged paintings on the walls of some of the temples.

You could pay some money to write blessings or wishes on tiles that will be used on the roof.

The next morning, we hiked along the river to the Biryong waterfall.

Pretty cool little frog we found hanging out on a rock near the river

The water was pretty cold, but the pool at the base of the waterfall was irresistible so we just had to get in.

That afternoon, we took some buses along the coast to the Naksan Temple right on the ocean.

It was quite a pretty scene:

We rested at a picnic table overlooking the ocean with some refreshing blueberry juice.

Early the next morning, Ricky and I got up to hike to Gyejoam, an interesting Buddhist hermitage that's surrounding an old cave at the base of Ulsanbawi, a set of dramatic rock cliffs. People have carved writing onto many of the rock faces over the centuries. It was very peaceful so early in the morning, and Erika and Harper enjoyed staying back and sleeping in.

This 16-ton boulder named Heundeulbawi totters and rocks if you push it. We gave it a go trying to roll it off, but to no avail.

The setting of the whole thing, at the base of rock cliffs and overlooking the valley, was very striking.

Harper got accustomed to riding in various buses to get around and loved the wind from the open windows.

Where do you want to eat?

After our bus back to Seoul, it was time to get Harper's stitches out! Everything went smoothly, and she just has a tension bandage for a few more days, and then we're done (other than scar ointment and sunscreen for six months). We decided after that, it was time to do something just for Harper. So we headed to a nice aquarium on the bottom floor of this huge, modern, mall-type complex called COEX. She had a blast running from display to display and shouting out the names of the animals that she knew.

This big frog was probably the most popular display that she continued to come back to.

Harper didn't seem too impressed, but I thought this two-headed turtle was pretty cool.

After much coaxing, Erika relented and let these little fish nibble on her fingers. From the look on her face, I don't think she loved it.

The sharks and rays brought the most oooh's and aaah's as they glided past us.

And the grand finale was this enormous tank full of giant turtles, sharks and just about everything else. Harper was mesmerized.

On Friday, Erika and I went on a tour of the border area with Communist North Korea, probably the most closed off and restrictive country in the world. Harper stayed back with Uncle Ricky and Kim because small kids aren't permitted. She enjoyed eating McDonalds and playing at a nearby playground.

The neutral blue UN buildings are where peace talks take place in the DMZ (demilitarized zone). The South Korean guards here are facing the North Korean guards on the other side. It's the most heavily guarded border in the world, and it felt that way.

Here's a North Korean guard carefully watching us with binoculars. We also saw others hiding behind a balcony occasionally popping up with binoculars of their own. It felt rather silly actually.

The flag and the guard in this picture are positioned directly on the border between North and South Korea. Erika is on the North Korea side--add another country to our list!

The Bridge of No Return, where POWs and refugees once could cross to either side, however, they could not return.

Gijong, a North Korean "village" just across the border, is actually an empty ghost town designed to show off North Korea's quality of life. The flag, one of the world's largest, weighs 600 pounds and often will rip.

We also visited the 3rd of four tunnels the North Koreans have dug attempting to attack the South. It was a steep and long walk down to the cramped tunnel and our hard hats came in handy several times on the low ceilings.

Later that evening, we rejoined Ricky and Harper and took a stroll along Cheonggyecheon, a festive downtown waterfront area. We came across this man making enormous bubbles, much to the delight of kids and Harper.

The bubbles almost looked like modern art.

Then we ate our favorite meal of the trip so far, Kamjatang. It is slow-cooked pork backbone and potato stew. Strip the meat off the bone, cut up the potato, add broth and rice, and you get a perfect bowl of Korean comfort food.

I felt a little cave-manish polishing off the meat from these bones, but Ricky appreciated my tenacity.

Admiral Yi Sun Sin, a famous Korean military leader, watching over the city

On our last full day in Korea, we went with Harper to the National Museum. This is where we had attempted to go before Harper's big accident occurred. Today was smooth sailing, though, and we enjoyed the artifacts and calligraphy, as well as a fun children's museum.

Erika's mom flies in today, and we will have tonight to enjoy an evening all together. Harper can't wait to see her Nana all the way in Korea! She and Ricky travel on to Mongolia on Monday, and we are headed to Tokyo tomorrow. The plan is to get up early and attend the 7am service at Yoido Full Gospel Church, the largest Protestant Christian church in the world with roughly a million members before our flight.

Harper continuing to make more Korean friends!

Five days in Japan and then we're home! Until then...
-Brent

Korea Part I

2011-07-04T08:17:00.000-05:00

We made it to South Korea! I wouldn't say "safe and sound" described our entrance and first couple of days though--it was actually full of some accidents and illnesses (more on that as we go along), but we're all recovered now and having a great time.

In order to get some great airline fares, we had several flights on the agenda...a three hour flight to Detroit was our first leg. Harper did great on the plane and fell asleep towards the end of the flight.

At the Detroit airport, Harper played in a little kid area during our four hour layover. Chasing a toddler around an airport for several hours is not an easy task and Harper managed to take a couple of spills resulting in a minor busted lip and a bruise on her cheek. Poor girl. Sadly, these were minor compared to what came next.

Harper was absolutely engrossed by the in-flight safety brochure. She studied it for a seriously long time, much to the amusement of the flight attendants. This was on our 12 hour flight to Tokyo. Harper slept about seven of those hours, sometimes in her car seat and sometimes sprawled out in our lap. She did good.

We stayed overnight at a hotel in Tokyo. Brent enjoyed the stylish Japanese robe and slippers provided by the hotel.

The next morning we woke up early to go back to the airport for our final flight to Seoul. As we were coming down for breakfast, Harper suddenly threw up all over both of us. Oh no! That was the first of seven up-chucks (hotel lobby, bus, security line at airport, twice on plane, Seoul airport, subway), yet we had to just plow forwards and do our last flight. It was pretty pitiful and not easy, but we made it, got her some medicine from a Korean pharmacy, and she bounced back quickly. A quick but fierce little bug that we will blame on Detroit.

Wearing her bib to help with the clean-up initiatives, Harper only wanted to lie on the floor as we waited to get on the plane. So pitiful.

The flight attendants on this flight to Seoul were above and beyond nice helping us take care of sick Harper. They brought us wet towels and even a toy for Harper.

We got a great view of Mount Fuji on this flight!

The flight attendants were also sweet to set up this little bed for Harper to sleep in. She slept most of this last flight with legs hanging off the crib. By the way, you know you're not in the US when your two hour flight has a full meal and alcohol.

With Harper recovered from her stomach bug, we went with my brother Ricky to a Korean barbeque restaurant on our first night.

Harper full of smiles again

Here is Ricky's cat Mong...

Harper loves Mong and does a good job petting her gently...Mong tolerates Harper.

Harper was awake off and on throughout that first night, asking us to turn on the lights. We ignored her and managed to stay in bed until around 5 a.m. Seoul is 14 hours ahead, so it's quite a significant adjustment. It took some days, but I think everyone is on Korean time now.

Our first full day in Seoul we visited Gyeongbokgung, which is a large palace complex.

Harper reluctantly getting into the Korean spirit.

Harubang figures that supposedly ward off evil spirits

Harper had fun being out of the stroller to walk around the palace grounds.

Harper contemplating the political intrigues amongst the Jeseon Dynasty...or maybe she was watching the fish in the pond.

Harper would run to catch up!

She helped Brent push the stroller too.

Pretty gazebo on the palace grounds

Brent's artistic take on the gazebo

That same day we visited a Buddhist temple as well.

The next morning we were planning to visit the National Museum with Kim (Ricky's girlfriend) and one of Ricky's friends. As we were milling around Ricky's living room gearing up to leave, Harper fell down somehow and banged her forehead on the edge of the TV table. It truly was one of the worst moments for me, as a mom, as she turned around crying and I saw not just a little, but a lot of blood beginning to pour down her face. I didn't know where she was hurt or how badly.

It was about a half-inch cut in the middle of her forehead, but head wounds bleed a lot! We jumped in a taxi and took Harper to the emergency room where they took an X-ray of her head (all was fine) and determined she needed some stitches. They wanted to put her under for this, so we did, and several hours later we left with a groggy baby and six stitches. Although Ricky speaks Korean, we were glad to have Kim with us through the experience to translate and help us navigate everything. We were pretty impressed with the care we received at the hospital and even with the X-ray, anesthesia, stitches and antibiotics, we only paid $138.00 for all of that. Plus we were asked to come in for several follow-ups to get new bandages and check on the progress--very attentive and conscientious.

We will get the stitches out in a few more days and Harper may have a little scar, although the doctor said with her age and skin, it should be no big deal. We are very relieved that Harper is recovering nicely and we are able to continue our trip with just a few adjustments because of the follow up visits. It gave us quite a scare, and we are all a little "hovering" around Harper now, as you can imagine!

After Harper had slept for several hours, we put her in the stroller and took a bus to the top of Namsan, a mountain with great views of Seoul. The walls are covered with padlocks and hearts with love messages, signifying strong, everlasting love. However, sometimes when a couple breaks up, one will go up here and break off their padlock.

Seoul Tower

We also visited the Korean War Memorial.

After Harper's first follow-up visit, we decided to leave Seoul and take an overnight trip by two hour bus to Anmyeon island on the west coast. Ricky's girlfriend Kim is a teacher, but we were happy that it was the weekend and she could come with us. After putting Harper to bed, we all hung out on the patio, grilled out a delicious dinner and stayed up telling stories. Lots of fun.

Ricky and Kim in cooking action

The next morning we visited the beach. It's more like an Oregon-type beach where you don't really get in the water. Plus Harper is supposed to keep her bandage dry.

Spelling Harper's name in the sand

Running to Uncle Ricky

Harper had a blast, and you can notice her little bandage on her forehead.

Harper loved walking in the sand and picking up shells.

Finally got tired and wanted to be held

We had walked quite a ways in our enjoyment when suddenly it began to rain! Ricky and Brent had decided to climb up to a little viewpoint, and I had started heading back with Harper so I was all by myself when the rain began. There was no place to take shelter except a 30 minute walk down the beach so I carried Harper in one arm while cupping my hand over her forehead with the other to try to keep her bandage dry. I was worn out when I got to shelter, and we were both soaked. Her bandage was sort of dry with all my efforts, but we had to go for a follow up the next day anyway, and it was all fine. Yet another adventure!

When I showed up at this tent shelter by myself with Harper, Korean people instantly swarmed us with kindness. They brought out a towel, wrapped Harper in a blanket and hovered around until Ricky and Brent came shortly after. Then they insisted on driving us in one of their cars to the bus terminal and gave us coffee to drink and refused any money we tried to give them. Korean people have been SO nice to us, and I think some of it has to do with Harper. She gets so much positive attention out here!

Wet Harper in her borrowed blanket on the drive to the bus terminal--we made it back on a bus with no further incident back to Seoul! While we waited in the bus terminal, I had fun buying all sorts of things at the Korean dollar store.

The next day was the 4th of July! We had coffee and a cookie to start off the day.

Harper and me walking up the steep hill to Ricky's place

We did a little shopping...

...and ate a delicious lunch of shabu shabu with Ricky and Kim.

Harper chowed down on the beef, rice and pasta. Here she is slurping up a spicy orange noodle.

So many bowls by the end of the meal!

And finally, here is Harper making new Korean friends--so cute!

We have a two-day window before the stitches come out so we are taking another short trip. Hopefully it will be a little more excitement-free, and we will bring along an umbrella! :) More to come as we still have five more full days in Korea and then five days in Japan!

A little cousin adoration

2011-06-22T12:01:00.001-05:00

In a recent weekend, Harper got to play with some of her Tennessee cousins that she hadn't seen since she was four months old. Wesley is eight and Caroline is six. Harper developed a keen admiration for her sweet cousin Caroline. She would smile at her and want to do everything she was doing! We are lucky to get Harper to look at us when trying to take a picture at this age, but if Caroline said, "Smile, Harper," Harper would hold the smile for the longest time looking right at the camera. We said we needed Caroline's powerful influence around all the time! :)

Kathy, Beth, Caroline, Jenevieve and I got pedicures at the same time...what a fun treat!

Caroline and Wesley blowing bubbles for Harper--they are both so good with little kids

An example of Harper's adoring smile :)

And what a fun new addition to Mimi and T-Pa's backyard...a ball that sprays water!

It was a big hit with Harper and Caroline!

...and Aunt Beth too! :)

Relaxing on the swing

Harper watched a little Barney with Mimi and T-Pa...riveting stuff :)

Harper is SUPER into the book series, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. There are five books in a box set we received as a gift, and we read them all at least once a day.

Harper wanted Caroline to read to her too...how sweet is that!

And I will leave you with this video of Harper and Brent reading this alphabet book together before nap. Harper is really getting an interest in her letters! I like how she says the letter "k."

Lots of water fun!

2011-06-15T14:05:00.015-05:00

Welcome to summer! We will be leaving for Korea in less than two weeks and packing is in full effect. Before leaving, though, I wanted to post some pictures about our last month. As you will see, we have been in the water a lot! Harper loves the splash parks!

Harper lately likes to sit on the countertop as I get ready in the morning and brush her hair. Here she is styling some hair clips.

My birthday was at the end of May, and we had a full weekend of eating delicious meals. We ate at Cheesecake Factory, cooked out burgers at Brian and Jenevieve's and ate the Sunday brunch at Blue Mesa with my family. Oh my goodness! This picture is at Brian and Jenevieve's with my very favorite dessert, cheesecake!

I was really excited about this gift I got from Brent's family, a custom pantry door organizer. I'm a little bit of a geek in my pure enjoyment of organization, so it was quite the giddy experience to clean out our ENTIRE pantry and reorganize everything. No more falling spices and so much more room!

Well, after all that wonderful birthday eating, Brent and I followed that up with a 21 day cleanse. Me and the blender are close friends these days as we are drinking lots of fruit and vegetable smoothies. Nine more days to go...I can't believe we are still hanging in there.

This summer, there are large-group play dates on the calendar every Friday, thanks to Kamara for organizing that. Our first one was to a science center in our city. I thought Harper might be a little too young, and she was for some things, but she also found lots of things to explore and play with.

Rolling balls down a movable ramp

Harper and Aubrey at the train table

Harper and Kaelyn banging on pots and pans

Harper had a blast playing with Kate and Carly the other night. They loved rocking on the see-saw, and Carly didn't want to be left out either.

Harper is thrilled whenever we get to see Marin as it is not as often now, naturally. Here are the girls at Chick-fil-A waiting for their chicken!

Swim lessons are continuing the month of June, and Harper is becoming pretty okay with being on her back. It is fun that Kaelyn is also in the same lesson this month. Here are the two girls floating on their backs like old pros.

Kristen and I watched and cheered them on with Rylan.

And now for the splash park! We have been several times now, and I have brought my camera each time, so there are a lot of splash park pictures. Harper loves it as you can see!

This was Harper's first time at the park, and there was a lot of clapping, squealing and shouting out, "Water!"

Checking it out...

Yes, this is definitely fun!

Still fun!

Marin and Harper at the splash park

Giving Marin a hug

Trying to drink the water

Aubrey loves the splash park too!

Aaaaaaaagh!

And Harper went with Addy too!

I have one more post to share and then we will be on our trip. Please keep us in your prayers for safe and smooth travels. :)

Easter, Mother's Day and More!

2011-05-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

Get ready for a long post of pictures as there has been much to document in the last month or so! Many holidays and fun birthdays in recent weeks and also exciting times ahead...it looks like the three of us will be taking an international trip this summer! We are going to visit my brother in South Korea! He has been living there for several years, and we have never seen his life there or met his girlfriend or cat, etc. And besides, who doesn't enjoy taking an almost 2-year-old on a trans-Pacific flight--fun times ahead! :) We'll be sure to blog about this upcoming family adventure, of course!

On Easter Sunday, we got together with Mimi and T-Pa for church and a delicious meal afterwards.

Relaxing on the swing with her Easter basket and one blue egg

Cousin Addy turned two in May...I love her pure joy in this picture.

Addy loved her homemade and masterfully created "pig" cake. I wish I had taken a picture of it...Jenevieve did an amazing job on it!

Harper loved the cake too!

Cousin Holton (who is three months old now) was wiped out by all the partying and took a nap on Mimi's chest.

I was happy that he woke up, though, and gave his Aunt Erika lots of smiles!

For Mother's Day this year, Brent and Harper put their heads together and created a precious collage with Harper's handprint on it. I was unsuspecting when Brent repeatedly urged me to take some "me" time and run an errand earlier in the week. It didn't take too much urging to convince me to go to Target, and as soon as I walked out the door, Brent said he and Harper rushed into crafty action! Brent got a little stressed when some of the red paint got on Harper's pajamas, but he washed it out for the most part, and I was none the wiser when I returned. What a sweet pair!

The completed Mother's Day surprise

Beth and Jarod were so sweet to host the family for a gourmet brunch on Mother's Day. Here we are enjoying the food in the backyard.

Harper and Aunt Beth

Father and son relaxation

After some Maverick's viewing, we went to my mom's house and ate out for a Mother's Day dinner. It was a great day.

This past month, Brent and I also celebrated nine years of marriage. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend who I truly enjoy spending life with.

We sure are missing sweet Marin, but all is going well with baby Parker! I just wanted to post this picture from April when Harper and Marin were riveted by storytime at the library.

In April we also had a fun time house/dog sitting for Brian and Jenevieve as they traveled for Jenevieve's conference in D.C. Harper loves the puppies (she calls them "white puppy" and "black puppy"), and it was fun to change up the routine and be away from home for a bit.

Lucy (or "black puppy") never tired of playing catch. She was managing two balls here...one already in her mouth and waiting in tense anticipation for the second ball to drop.

Ringo ("white puppy") patiently tolerated Harper playing with his toy.

We also saw Arcade Fire in late April...it was an awesome concert, and we were just two people back in the pit.

We went to the Rangers game with Brian, Jenevieve and Holton. I love going to an evening game before the weather is too warm, and we had lots of fun.

We were five rows behind home plate. Thank you, Brian and Jenevieve, for a great night!

Love this Rangers fan...

...but didn't love this one as much. He was unfortunately seated right behind us and actually ended up getting kicked out of the game!

My mom went on a mission trip with some high school students to Peru. She brought back this hat for Harper. As you might recall, Harper has a thing for winter hats. This one proved to be a winner as well, and she loves to wear it. No matter that it is May!

Playing a game of peek-a-boo with the coffee table

My mom also brought Harper this white llama rug from Peru. She loves to get down and snuggle on its luxurious softness.

Big brown eyes

Brent and Harper messing around with the camera

For Aunt Beth's birthday, we went to Joe T. Garcia's and Harper and T-Pa did some coloring.

Harper looks so big to me here on the slide, I can't even handle it.

"Whee!"

And the other thing we have been up to is swimming lessons! We are taking them on Saturdays in May and June in the instructer's outdoor heated pool. Harper has been good for the most part, except she hates being on her back! Brent and I are taking turns who is in the pool with her each Saturday.

And finally, here is Harper interacting with her favorite DVD. She gets so excited to act out the motions with the song! In the beginning she is so excited, she just shouts out her name a couple of times. :)

Jump and Hop from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

20 Months

2011-04-21T12:20:00.000-05:00

We have stayed busy this spring enjoying beautiful, if windy, weather and spending lots of time outdoors. Harper is a happy camper outside! A few things about Harper at this age:

1) Even though her temperament is laid back on most days, I think she has possibly inherited my exactness. I call her the "uh-oh police" right now, because she loves to find things that are slightly out of place or incorrect and point them out. Be it something that is ripped, dirty, a fallen trash can, or even something that is crooked. She has an eye for detail!

2) Harper loves music, coloring and reading. At night she will say, "One more book" or "One more song" during bedtime, and if we are listening to a CD in the car, she will say "More!" during the pause in between each song.

3) Still loving to point out colors, the other day my mom was holding her, and she reached up and tugged my mom's hair and said, "White!" My mom loved that.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to this past month...

Love this little girl in the Texas bluebonnets...

This past weekend, we loaded up and went camping at a nearby lake. We had taken Harper camping with us on our five week road trip last summer, but Harper wasn't walking then. This time she really enjoyed being out in nature, picking up rocks, sticks and even hugging the trees! She slept in her pack and play beside us in the tent. Our only complaint was the insane wind that kept our rain cover flapping furiously against the tent all night. It kind of kept Brent and me up, but Harper slept through the noise luckily. We bought a state park pass for this year, so I think we will be doing more camping and hiking!

I think Harper might need a little camping chair of her own.

Brent cooking hamburgers

Harper with her cheerios on a hike

"Daddy, you're funny!"

Harper did some hiking of her own as well!

And here are some more picture highlights from this month...

Uncle Ricky, who lives in Korea, bought Harper these silken duds.

Playing "doctor" is a favorite activity right now...

...as well as kicking her ball around.

A true tree hugger :)

Harper had a play date recently with her friend Luka...

They enjoyed sliding...

...playing in the sand box...

...and swinging!

Luka gave Harper lots of sweet hugs!

Leading up to Easter, Harper had the opportunity to do a few Easter egg hunts. Here she is at our small group Easter egg hunt in the park. She didn't really get it yet and once she found a blue egg (her favorite color), she was content to walk around carrying it the whole time.

Some of Harper's fellow egg hunters and small group friends

Harper and I are very sad that our time with sweet Marin is coming to a close. Marin's baby sister Parker will be arriving shortly! Nearly every morning Harper wakes up asking if Marin will be coming today. Even though Harper can say 'Marin' now, she still prefers to use her special "sound" for Marin. These girls really love each other, and it is just so sweet. Marin has been a huge blessing to us this year!

A water table in the backyard is a big hit with the girls, and they are usually drenched by the time we come inside. After awhile, pouring water into the funnels turns into pouring water on their heads!

Here is our first day of "school" picture back in August.

And here they are in April...my, how they have grown!! We'll miss you, Marin, and will come play often!

Chicago

2011-04-17T19:25:00.000-05:00

Over Spring Break this year, Brent and I took a 4 day trip to the Windy City! Harper stayed behind with Brent's folks to have some quality grandparent time. We had never left her for that long before, and I was a little emotional when we left. However, I quickly got over the sadness after hearing how much fun they were having and knowing she was in such good hands! Neither of us had ever spent time in Chicago, and we squeezed a lot into our four days, but also took time to sleep in (amazing!), eat relaxed meals in restaurants and stay out late at night. Here are some pictures from the trip...

In Daley Plaza there is a Picasso statue. We got a kick out of how these young kids were using the work of art as a huge slide.

After checking into our hotel and eating lunch at XOCO (incredible guacamole and ground-in-house Mexican hot chocolate), we set out to see the city in an unusual way...on segways! I must admit that I have always wanted to ride one of these things out of curiosity. Maybe there is a bit of Paul Blart in me. Leading up to our trip, Brent had been monitoring the Chicago Groupons, and when one came up for this Segway tour, we couldn't pass it up! It was even more fun than I expected, and it was very easy to get the hang of riding them.

Watch out...here we come (in our ultra cool helmets and vests)!

Check out the video at the bottom that Brent put together to see us in action. It was a blast!

That evening we went to the Chicago Art Institute.

We met up with friends from ACU/church--Jason and Leigh Ann and Jay and Traci--who also happened to be in Chicago. After seeing the museum, we really enjoyed getting to visit with them over coffee.

Brent admiring the Chagall stained glass at the museum

After coffee, we had quite a treat for our first dinner in Chicago. Brent and I had been watching Top Chef Season 4, set in Chicago, leading up to the trip. Of course, we had to eat at the winner's new restaurant,so Brent made reservations for The Girl and the Goat months ago. Even then we only had the option of 5:00 or 9:00 on a Thursday. The place lived up to the hype and we savored all 6 shared courses of locally sourced, delicious "upscale comfort food."

The next morning on a recommendation from Krister and Tobin, we ate at Ann Sather for brunch. Wow, I'm talking decadence! As one of the "sides" to an entree, you could get not one, but TWO monstrous cinnamon rolls!

And if that weren't enough, we ordered this french toast number also made with more cinnamon rolls...it was delicious!

After brunch we headed over to trendy Wicker Park.

This is a hipster part of town with vintage shops and record stores...

...and cool Mike Ditka street art.

Day Two also took us on an architectural boat tour.

Peaceful afternoon floating past the canyon of skyscrapers

Here is the view of our room at the Affinia, a block off of the Magnificent Mile.

Brent at the Billy Goat Tavern, famous from 70's era Saturday Night Live sketches..."Cheeborger, cheeborger..."

After dinner, we went to the Signature Lounge on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center.

This was our view for drinks before heading to Second City.

And this was the view from the women's restroom. Not too shabby!

The famous Second City comedy theater

To start off our 3rd day, we went to Millennium Park and messed around taking pictures at "The Bean."

And one of the things I was most looking forward to was our pizza tour. This did not disappoint! We went to four pizza places within walking distance and had at least one slice at each. My favorite, hands down, was Giordano's. We left stuffed and happy.

Of course, we had to visit Sue at the Field Museum.

We enjoyed a romantic fondue experience at Geja's on our last night.

Finally, check out the music video that Brent put together from clips that he took on his phone. Very impressive, I must say! And bonus points if you can catch the Ferris Bueller tribute!

Chicago from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

Austin or Bust!

2011-03-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Saturday before last, we embarked on an adventurous one-day road trip to Austin with the Goolsby family. Our agenda: participate in the family-friendly Save Texas Schools rally. With three kids between us and spouses and other family members in education, we felt it was important to take part. We loaded up Lisa's mom's Tahoe to the max at 6:30 a.m. and headed for the capital! We were all tired by the end of our 11 hour foray, but I'm so glad we did it.

Here you can see Lisa and I crammed in the back with little Norah between us. We didn't even try getting out for a bathroom break! Davis was avidly watching his Train Show DVD, while a less-interested Harper examined her kitchen spatula.

Seven-month-old Norah ready to begin the rally

Harper and Davis had signs too that they held for about a minute.

Lisa made t-shirts for the kids, and this was a much better way for them to get their message across. Fund Davis' future! :)

Just before the marching began

It was reported that there were about 11,000 people in attendance.

Cute little activist

The march ended at the capitol building where everyone gathered for speakers and some random gospel singing.

Jeff and Davis taking a break at our picnic lunch

Norah and Harper rolled around a bit on the blanket and talked about upcoming political strategy.

Harper and Davis ran around the grounds after our picnic and were thrilled to release some energy. Harper picked up sticks and came home with little twigs and leaves in her hair...a bath was definitely in order!

After running around, Harper relaxed on Daddy's back with her treasured blanket. There was a brief nap on the ride home, but for the most part, nap time was skipped this day. Harper and Davis got quite delirious on the drive home and there was a period when Harper giggled at anything Davis did.

A group shot before loading up the car and heading home. Thank you for the fun adventure, Goolsby family! See you at the next rally for schools!

Princess Ball

2011-03-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

Every year our church puts on a Daddy/Daughter Princess Ball. It was absolutely precious to see the dads all dressed up with their little girls, and I was glad Harper got to experience her first time at the ball with her daddy! Harper had a lot of fun eating ice cream, as well as dancing and running around. I think Brent was as worn out as Harper when they got home. :) Here are some pictures from the evening's fun...

Harper with some of her other princess friends

Stunned to be sitting in a real carriage

Taking in the pretty decorations

And one of the best parts of the night...the ice cream!

Visiting with her friend Lydia

Perfecting a set of complex square dance steps

"Thanks, Daddy, for such a fun night!"

And a little musical tribute to the night...so precious, but you can see why Brent was worn out by the end!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2011 from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

Our New Nephew and Eighteen Months

2011-02-28T13:18:00.000-06:00

We have a new nephew! Born on January 26th, Holton Paul entered the world weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and 21 inches long. He is so sweet and is such a good baby! Below are a few pictures from the evening he was born...I can't believe he is already a month old now!

Anxiously waiting for news in the waiting room

Harper and Addy did a little coloring to pass the time. I like Harper's two-handed method here. :)

Brian and Jenevieve did not find out the sex of the baby again, so when Brian came in to announce the news, we were very excited! I love the expression on Jenevieve's mom's face.

Seeing our nephew for the first time as he was getting all warmed up under the lights

Holton Paul--precious!

And our baby girl is now eighteen months old, if you can believe it. At her doctor's appointment, she weighed a little over 24 pounds (50th%) and is 33 1/4 inches long (90th%). Right now Harper is still a wonderful eater and enjoys a large variety of foods, sometimes being a little picky with meat. She can put away an entire breakfast burrito before you know it and still loves her vegetables.

Harper has also started putting two words together. The other day when I offered to read a book to her, she said, "No, Harper read." She will shout out "Harper Belle!" with gusto now. So fun to see her language growing! And she also likes to make piles of things. She'll gather up a certain type of toy like her plastic coins and move them all to a spot in the house. Then when they are all gathered, she will begin again moving them to a new spot in the house. It keeps her occupied for awhile!

We are also taking a weekly parenting class at church, and Brent and I are taking notes like crazy. Since Harper is independent (which I love!) and has a determined mind, we want to get all the help we can get to discipline our little girl in a Godly way in the months/years to come. We are learning that training, training and more training is in our future!

Harper loves her Nana!

Did I mention that Harper has a new dear friend named Barney? She will sit in her Elmo chair and watch Barney for about five minutes and then she is off to other things. But she does love that five minutes and asks for it every afternoon.

For Valentine's, we went to the Cirque du Soleil Ovo show with Brent's folks, and it was amazing! I had never seen a Cirque du Soleil performance, and it was so fun and impressive!

This jacket with Harper's name on it was a gift from my mom. She is too cute in it!

Checking out a flower

"Do you like my shades?"

Peeking around to say hi

Harper and Marin taking a breather at a little photo shoot

Check out all that blonde hair!

For Valentine's Day, Harper received this adorable little red tutu from her Aunt Theresa. We had to get a few pictures of her in this...so girly and fun!

Last week, Brent won a Maverick's game package on the radio...who does that...only Brent! This package included access to a VIP food room, a platinum parking pass and court side seats. We had a blast! I was so excited about all the free food, and I must admit that we took full advantage and "ate through the pain."

The VIP food lounge. We ate a full meal before the game and came back at half time too.

Our seats...the waiter you see behind us came by every 15 minutes to see what food you wanted from a menu...all free too! We had nachos, a cookie, a sundae and Twizzlers at our seats.

It was awesome to see the action so close up.

We were right next to the visiting team's bench. Brent even enjoyed a little playful trash talk banter with some of the players.

Here is Harper coloring with crayons for the first time...she still LOVES her colors!

Harper and her colors from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

Seventeen Months

2011-01-25T19:30:00.001-06:00

Harper is now seventeen months old! An adjective that gets used with Harper a lot is "busy." As soon as she enters a room, she gets right to work exploring and finding toys and getting down to business! She is really into her colors right now, and will point out "green" or "yellow" or "red" or "blue" everywhere we go. She is also into wearing her winter hat as often as we'll let her, even indoors. She brings us great joy, and here are some pics from this past month! :)

Our first snow of the winter...Harper was okay as long as Daddy was holding her...

...but she did not care for the snow on her own this year!

An example of Harper tooling around with her ever-present winter hat accessory

Harper and Brent are really into peek-a-boo/jump-out-from-behind-a-corner games. They will say "Boo!" at each other and then Brent will hide again and Harper will find him. She loves it and asks for it by saying "Boo!"

In other news, Harper and Marin have a new set-up! We got an extra car seat installed in the back seat, and Tobin is letting us borrow their double stroller for now. So I took the girls on their first outing to the mall! It was a little tricky figuring it all out for the first time, but also successful and fun for all.

The new car seat set-up! Harper and Marin have fun back there holding hands or passing toys back and forth.

Fun at the mall in the double stroller! It was a non-stop game of footsies.

I decided to experiment and let the girls get out in the kid area of Barnes and Noble. Harper is not hesitant to walk up to any kid, no matter what age. She was trying to check out what these girls were reading and get her hands on a copy! :)

The other night, Rod and Kam babysat Harper while Brent and I went to see Sean Lennon (John and Yoko's son) in concert with his band. It was in a small club, and Brent and I had a cozy, reserved table just a few feet away from the stage. It was awesome!

Sean, his girlfriend and bandmate Charlotte and Brent after the concert--they were very nice to hang around and sign autographs and chat with people.

Recently Harper likes riding on the little horses at the park.

And we check out board books by the bucket these days! Here Harper is reading about some baby ducks at the library.

Harper's speed is quickly approaching a run now!

Yay for seventeen months! :)

Christmas and New Year's

2011-01-04T17:18:00.001-06:00

The past couple of weeks with dear friends and family has certainly made this Christmas and New Year's a blessing. We spent an early Christmas with Brent's family and then several days with my mom over actual Christmas. This year as one of our gifts to our families, we went to a pottery place and made trivets and plates using Harper and Addy's hand prints. Addy was a pro with her hand print, holding her hand out wide and being very still. Harper, on the other hand, was not so sure about the process! :) But the end products were so cute, and we had fun making them.

A very unsure Harper getting her hand painted by Aunt Jenevieve

It took three hands to pull off Harper's hand print. Nothing like a little creative torture, right? :)

Here is Addy having no problems getting her hand painted up!

And here is Kathy opening up one of the finished products!

Mimi and T-Pa knew Harper and Addy were both getting kitchens for Christmas so they got the girls all set up with some pretend food.

I just love Brent's dad's laugh so I had to include this picture in the mix!

Then for our time in Ft. Worth, we ate at some yummy restaurants and went to the Kimbell to see the Maya exhibit and the Modern Art Museum. My mom is always a member at various museums so we can all see the artwork for free. Harper really liked the Modern Art Museum and would look at the art and point out different colors or if she saw a "ball" shape.

My mom and I at Twisted Root

Harper and Daddy split a "buffison" burger, which is buffalo and venison meat. She gobbled it up!

I love the pool of water that surrounds the Modern Art Museum.

Brent took this artistic shot inside where you can see my shadow down low and Brent's shadow up high, with the water reflecting on the walls.

Brent and Harper doing some reading. Harper carries books up to us and says, "Read! Read!" It is still her favorite activity.

Another favorite past time in Ft. Worth was watching Juneau, my mom's German Shepherd, in the back yard!

And my mom has a tent she sets up for Harper in the living room, and Harper loves to hang out and read and play toys in there.

On Christmas morning, here is my mom with her Harper hand print trivet!

Santa's helper

Harper got lots of fun toys, including a drum set with instruments, some puzzles and more books.

Her favorite part of the packaging was the bows!

Our good friends Theresa and Emily gave Harper this towel embroidered with her initials...Harper is very excited about it!

And the excitement continues with her kitchen from Mommy and Daddy.

One of Harper's favorite things to do is go behind the kitchen and peek through the little window.

"Hello!"

Another funny detail is Harper's new attachment to her play salad tongs. She walks around with them always hanging around her neck. We say it is her "signature chef move" to always have her salad tongs ready at a moment's notice!

Uncle Brian and Addy came over to play one morning over the break.

The girls read lots of books!

Something else keeping me busy over the break was this rocking chair I painted. I have painted lots of wooden letters and picture frames, but never a piece of furniture before. It was a lot of work, but I loved doing it!

We had an early New Year's hang out time with the Pruetts, Cox's and Clarks. We ate some mouth-watering pulled pork and ribs that Zack prepared using his meat smoker and played a drawing game that is hilarious. I have not laughed that hard in a long time!

The guys...

...and the girls

Then on New Year's Eve, we got together with Krister and Tobin and Adam and Angie. Harper and Marin had not seen each other for almost two weeks, so they were very excited to play, and we spent the night so Harper and Marin got to have their first "sleep over" even though they were in separate rooms. Tobin truly outdid herself. We had a French theme to the night, "Au voir, 2010." Tobin created a four course French meal, beginning with cheese fondue and ending with chocolate souffles...it was so yummy and so fun!

We put the girls to bed before beginning our fancy, candlelit meal.

Brent, Krister and Adam

Angie, me and Tobin...this was after midnight so we were starting to fade a bit.

It has been a cherished year going through Harper's first full year of life. I can't wait to see how she will change and grow next year, and we look forward to what 2011 has in store!

Leading up to Christmas

2010-12-22T13:01:00.000-06:00

We've been staying busy these last few weeks leading up to Christmas! This post is a little random and disjointed, but here is a glimpse into what we have been up to lately. :)

Mini Sue Sylvester contemplates her new hair experiment

"Hmmm...this title looks like a good one..."

Sitting down with Daddy after work to do a puzzle

Getting a little help

Trying to help Daddy with the dishes

While visiting Brent's grandma, Harper was very drawn to Lucky the dog's crate and toys.

Some bubble bath time fun:

And here is a little video clip of Harper with the bubbles:

Untitled from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

It was so great to get to see my dear friend Kate and her boys a couple of weeks ago. Kate has been one of my best friends since middle school, and we thoroughly enjoyed her little visit.

We attempted (as you will see, "attempt" is the key word) to get a picture of Harper, Everett and Jackson in front of the Christmas tree.

Oh dear

The couch wasn't any better.

So Kate and I did a shot with no kids. :) Oh well!

For a recent date night, Brent had the idea for us to experience a traditional Swedish feast at IKEA called a Julebord. I have to admit, my excitement didn't quite match Brent's. I was a little apprehensive about the various fish dishes that would be present at this feast. But I went along with it, and it turned out to be way more fun than I expected!

We were serenaded by a Swedish choir while we ate.

It was an all-you-can-eat, sold-out buffet. Here is a picture of plate #1.

I didn't love everything on the menu, but there were definitely some delicious European morsels.

Since September, I have been training for my first ever 5K with my friend Jilinda. I really don't consider myself a runner, but training for an actual race and running with a partner made all the difference. I'm really proud that we stuck to it and ran the race and have the t-shirts to prove it!

Jilinda and I before the race--it was a cold, windy December morning.

At the starting line! The excitement was contagious!

Yet another idea of Brent's was to check out the hot air balloon event in the downtown square one Saturday night.

Harper was mesmerized by the balloons.

As it got darker, the balloons looked awesome lit up against the night sky.

And with December came the end of Harper and Marin's first semester of "school" together! It definitely called for some photos, and you can already see how much the girls have grown since the first day of school.

Sweet Marin giving Harper a hug

So, so sweet!

And here is the first day of school picture for comparison.

And finally, here is Harper's picture with Santa this year. She was a little unsure (as to be expected) and was actually in the process of saying "down" when this photo was snapped. Our little blondie was very brave until the very end, and then she decided she had had enough of this strange man! Daddy came and rescued her!

Have a merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Fifteen Months and Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T21:51:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving and happy 15 months to Harper! Brent had the whole week off, and we spent the first part of the week relaxing together and the second part with Brent's family. Harper had her 15 month appointment and everything is great! She gained over two pounds since her last appointment so that put her at 22 pounds and the 45th percentile, and she also grew over an inch! Harper is still in the 95th percentile for height...I am pretty sure she will pass me up one of these days. :)

Waiting for the doctor and trying to stay entertained

These days Harper is saying lots of words, which is really fun, and even if she can't say it, she is an effective communicator. She loves to say "more." It's funny because if you give her a book and it's not the book she wants, she will say, "more." Like, give me more options. Harper loves to swing, and says, "whee!" when she sees the park. If we go past the park without stopping, she will cry and say, "whee" in the saddest, tear-filled voice. Needless to say, we swing just about everyday. She has learned to smile on command, but they are always funny, goofy smiles, and they make me laugh. She also likes shoes and will bring us mismatched shoe pairs for us to help put on her feet. Then she will look at her shoe-clad feet with the biggest smile. Harper has also started walking a lot now, and we think she was motivated in an attempt to keep up with her cousin Addy. She is a very busy little girl!

We had fun photographing the cousins in their matching shirts!

What a sweetheart!

Harper still loves to bestow huge open-mouth kisses...or maybe Addy is a future doctor checking out Harper's throat. :)

This particular morning, Harper and Marin were spending some very serious moments planning out the day's events.

Marin decided to liven it up by swinging her hair all around as Harper wondered if her locks would ever be long enough to do such a thing.

Marin's comedy routine made Harper smile so big that you can even see some of her new molars!

These sweet girls love to hold hands in the wagon :)

Still a little bookworm! Harper thought a tunnel was a good place to sit down and read.

A random gift card lured Brent and me to Main Event one evening. We decided to play some pool and Harper was kind enough to watch on from her high chair.

On Thanksgiving day, we ate our delicious feast and then Brent, Brent's dad and I were lucky to get to go to the Cowboy game that afternoon! In all my years in Texas, I have never been to a game. We got the tickets thanks to Jenevieve and a doctor friend of hers that sometimes shares amazing tickets with them. We were on the 43rd yard line six rows from the field. It was incredible, and even though we lost, the game could not have been more exciting! Thank you, Brian and Jenevieve!

Before the game began

Nicole Kidman was on the field before the game began with her daughter because her husband, Keith Urban, was performing at half-time.

Our amazing perspective

Brent and his dad...a memorable Thanksgiving, for sure!

And a couple more pictures from Thanksgiving...

A happy girl sharing stories with T-Pa

A fun aunt and uncle giving the girls an exhilarating, upside-down ride!

Something that makes us laugh is how, even though Harper can say lots of words, she has never said "Marin" yet. Instead, she has a distinct "sound" that she makes for her. It is Marin's call. Check it out! :)

Harper names her friends from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Lake Weekend!

2010-11-02T13:59:00.002-05:00

Harper had fun at the pumpkin patch this year! Although Harper has taken her first steps now (yea!--see video below), she is transitioning and still prefers to crawl. This proved to be a good outdoor setting for her with a nice pallet of hay to crawl around on. She checked out all the pumpkins, big and small, and had fun with Lydia and Aubrey.

A cute Pumpkin among pumpkins

Very interested in the scarecrows

"Hey Lydia! Wanna go for a wagon ride?"

Hay is so much fun!

Time for a snack break (and an attempt at a photo)...is Harper eating the hay?

Aubrey and Harper checking out the hay maze

"Peek-a-boo!"

Sweet sisters

"These look about my size!"

Looking pretty content after a fun morning

On Halloween weekend, we got to spend Friday and Saturday night at Jarod's family's lake house on Possum Kingdom Lake. We had a great time relaxing, going out on the lake in a boat, grilling out burgers and watching the Ranger's one victory of the series. Since Addy and Harper were together, we also got lots of pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes...too cute! The family time made me look forward to all the upcoming holidays.

What a sweet little ladybug!

And Addy was the CUTEST flower!

Harper did not care for the boat ride this time. Perhaps it was that she had just scraped up her finger, or was tired, or didn't like the life vest, but she wasn't a happy camper as you can see from her expression.

Addy chilling out with Mom and Dad

Beth, Kathy and Jim enjoying the front

Harper's mood did lift when Mimi took her to the front of the boat for some great views.

Cousins sharing a front row seat

Jarod was our fearless boat driver and guide.

Yes, definitely tired...she couldn't resist the rocking of the boat!

Playing around on the deck in the early evening

On Sunday morning we took a hike on some trails--everyone took turns carrying Harper.

A tradition of getting a Halloween picture with Kamara and Tami's girls...now Carly and Ryleigh have joined the photo! There was a definite insect theme this year! :)

Here is last year's picture...

Look who else was a ladybug for Halloween...

Ladybugs hug!

Here is the video of Harper's first steps to T-Pa. I can't believe Brent happened to catch it on video! As you can tell, I was a little bit excited. :)

Harper's First Steps from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

Busy Weekends

2010-10-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

We have certainly had a very busy October so far! It began with ACU Homecoming. It was not our 10 year yet, but we got to see lots of friends from the class above us, as well as many friends from our year. These friendships made me appreciate my ACU experience all over again, and I really hope Harper might be a wildcat someday. :)

On Friday night there was an outdoor carnival with a petting zoo. Harper got to pet the goats many times.

An impromtu photo of college pals at the parade on Saturday morning

Showing Harper the Gata Fountain

After chapel and lunch, Harper could not even make it to the car without konking out!

I went to the hotel to take a nap with Harper, while Brent watched the football game with Ryan and Krister. It was a hot one!

Harper opted to stay cool by the hotel air conditioner and take a nap (eventually).

Saturday night we got to eat pizza and hang out with several friends from our class. So many little ones represented, and it was so cute to see them play in the same room.

Here we have Harper, Marin (Krister and Tobin's daughter), Cason (Chris and Merry's son), Audrey (Jody and Rachel's daughter) and J.D. (Jim and Kelly's son).

Just a random family shot at a restaurant

Also in October, Harper's friend Luka turned two. He had a fun birthday party at a little gym. Harper was the only one present that didn't walk yet, but she sure had fun anyway!

Daddy rolled her all around in the big ball!

This ramp was Harper's obsessive challenge. It was quite steep, but she gave it her all trying to scale to the top! Who knew we just needed a ramp in our house to keep her occupied for hours!

This ball pit was much deeper than Harper's at home. She would almost get to the "buried" point, and we would have to pull her to the top.

As usual Brent and I went to Hot Springs for the annual documentary film festival. This is our ninth year in a row to go and a very sacred tradition! Last year we had two-month-old Harper with us (and we only saw two documentaries), but this year we left Harper with her Nana for the weekend. Wow! What a great get-a-way! We slept in until 9:30 or so each morning, ate leisurely meals at restaurants and saw about 10 documentaries! Our favorites this year were God Willing and World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements.

Brent took a couple of pictures on his new IPhone. Here is the Malco theater where we watch all the documentaries.

Not sure what this is, but Brent was just experimenting, and he calls it my album cover shot.

Harper went to the zoo for the first time while staying with Nana for the weekend. Instead of being concerned with the camera or the tigers behind her, she was very focused in on Nana's phone. :)

Harper in her Halloween pajamas...as you can see, Harper suffered an injury! She fell down at the library and face planted on the carpet for a very nice nose carpet burn! She is all healed up now though.

Still happy and clapping despite the injury!

Checking out the pumpkin on our front porch...Harper calls pumpkins "balls."

Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone, and soon I will post Halloween and pumpkin patch pictures! :)

It finally happened...

2010-10-04T22:23:00.000-05:00

...Brent got his wish, and we are now full-fledged members of the cloth diaper world. Can you believe it? I still can't! This was always something my dear environmentalist (and frugal) husband wanted to do. I stalled and said, "Let's wait until Harper's on solid foods first." Then I managed to push it off until Brent would be home for the summer...then it had to wait until after our big road trip...you get the idea. Finally I ran out of excuses, and we have pulled the trigger!

We made an appointment with an Australian woman with a small storefront, and it was very helpful to get all our questions answered, get helpful tips and handle a number of different brands and types of cloth diapers. There are quite a lot of options out there! We settled on a couple of kinds that we thought would work best for our current and future needs, tried them out for a few days, and then got some more once we figured out which was our favorite. So we have been doing this for a couple of weeks now. As much as I hate to admit it, it's going pretty smoothly and hasn't been that bad of a transition at all.

Harper's new private wardrobe in many of the cute colors and patterns

Brent has volunteered to do all the washing of the diapers, and he has followed through with that beautifully! We have enough so that we do a diaper load every third night. I must admit that Harper looks pretty cute in her styling diaper duds and some of the covers are so soft that I just want to carry her around and pat her little bum. I refuse to be completely hard core about this, though, and Harper will be wearing disposables when we go to church or have babysitters, or I'm running errands for an extended period of time. I think we will find a balance that works for us so that Brent and I can both be happy. Here are a few photos of Harper modeling her new diapers!

The ultra-soft cow print--very appropriate as she is playing with barn animals and a farm :)

Striking a pose

This polka-dot one is super soft and one of my favorites.

And now just a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks...

Harper has become super attached to her puppy lovey. She has a special sound she makes when she asks for it, and she gets so happy when we hand it to her. This one might be following her to college.

I wanted to show off the height stick I made for Harper recently. I felt pretty handy going to the hardware store and asking them to cut me a piece of wood. I am going to put a picture of Harper beside each measurement we take of her on her birthday through the years.

Harper checking herself out!

These girls crack me up! They took turns crawling in and out of the nightstand they had already emptied.

And finally, here is Harper and Marin having a typical "conversation" over breakfast. Love them!

Harper and Marin discuss breakfast from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.

One Year Pictures

2010-09-24T23:22:00.000-05:00

We had some family photos taken when Harper turned one. These were taken by Cassie, who goes to our church, and she did an amazing job! We love them!

Love this little girl!

13 months

2010-09-20T07:32:00.000-05:00

Here is Harper's first month as a big one-year-old! She is cruising around and pushing her push toys, but she has not decided to walk yet, which is plenty fine with us! She loves to point at things now and say, "Dah!" very emphatically. She thinks it's the perfect universal word for everything, as Brent and I try to decipher what she is pointing at. Harper is newly weaned now, which was a little sad for me because that was always special time for us. She has not warmed up to cow's milk very quickly though. At least she is no longer pushing her cup away, but her quantity is still pretty meager. Hopefully she will decide it's better and better as time goes on! Here are Harper's stats from her one year appointment:

Height: 31 1/4 inches (95%)

Weight: 19 lbs. 15 oz. (20%)

Head: 18 1/4 inches (75%)

As you can see, long and lean! Somebody feed this girl some biscuits and gravy. :)

This year, Brent and I will take our annual Hot Springs trip, except Harper will be staying back for the weekend with Nana. I think they have big plans to go to the zoo! We also have ACU Homecoming right around the corner. Enjoy the pictures!

Harper and Marin love to crawl in and out of the ball pit with gusto! Here they have spotted something riveting to hold their undivided attention.

Going up and down the kitchen runway

A new fashion-forward hat

Harper listening as her great-grandma read a few verses out of the Bible.

Giving her great-grandma a big kiss!

Smiling after a bath

Here is Harper's new rocking chair. She loves to read in it!

And Eric Carle books are some of her favorites.

Into everything!

Some thoughtful moments...

Harper seriously chills in the wagon.

Swinging with Marin

So much fun!

"Peek-a-boo!"

Harper likes to try to brush her hair, as well as brush Mommy and Daddy's hair!

Harper brushes her hair from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.