This past Sunday was truly a Sunday Funday.  Our morning started out rising early to go to our 4^th Annual Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Walk.  Emerson was actually the first to get up telling us that she wanted to get up early so we weren’t late to the Vision Walk.  While we woke early, it certainly wasn’t the crack of dawn.  I think it was about 7:15 and we still got out of the house fairly easily by 8:40…..granted we didn’t eat breakfast at home as we knew they would have cereal bars and fruit that the girls would eat at the event, but even so getting out of the house is becoming easier and easier.   We took both strollers although Emerson walked probably about 2/3 of the 3 mile walk mostly with Papa as her buddy.  We were so proud of her.  Avery would get out for seconds at a time only to get back in moments later.  Harper wanted to get out at times but we wouldn’t let her.  The weather was gorgeous and it really was a good energetic start to the day. On the way home, all girls soundly slept in the car seats for close to an hour.

Later that afternoon we went to Meadowlark.  Normally when I go to Meadowlark, I want to walk as much as I can but since we already had done quite a bit of walking already, I was a little more content to just enjoy stopping and doing whatever the girls wanted to stop and investigate.  Meadowlark was packed…I have never seen so many people there at once….we even had to park on the over flow parking area.  Anyway, the girls had a great time exploring and running around.

I tried to get their picture on “the bench” that Justin and I took our first pictures on as a married couple.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the afternoon.

While they enjoyed Meadowlark, they really wanted to go to a park that had swings so after Meadowlark we stopped at the local park by Trap road.  Justin and I were trying to recall if we had been there since having Harper and neither of us thought so.  It was really fun to see Harper climbing and going down the slides.  Every time she turned a corner, she would say to whoever was there…hello…it was super adorable. The girls had a great time and it warms my heart when they are having so much fun.

One highlight of the day was that I didn’t cook all day!  And we didn’t eat a single meal at our kitchen table.  We spend a lot of time prepping meals and cleaning up our kitchen and while I do enjoy cooking, every once in a while it is awesome to see just how much additional time can be spent doing other things doing the day when no cooking or eating occurs in our kitchen.  Breakfast and lunch were at the Vision Walk.  And we picked up some Chinese Food earlier in the day when we were out and we ate in the backyard on paper plates for dinner. Seriously not having to sweep the floor even once Sunday was pretty darn awesome.

In Spring 2010 just as Justin and I were starting to think about starting a family, we randomly went to Glen Echo Park one weekend afternoon.  We walked around and explored the old train and the art galleries and both us couldn’t help but think that this would be a great place to come with our future kids one day. Fast forward exactly five years and three kids later, and we went back to Glen Echo for a second time, the first time since having kids….kind of funny that we had three kids by the time we went back, but that’s us:).  We had high expectations that it would be a fun event for our family as we both recalled how we felt five years ago.

While Justin and I both enjoyed the hour plus we were at the park as we love being outside with the kids, we both couldn’t help but feel an overall sense of disappointment.  The park was an amusement park starting in the early 1900’s so it still has the old amusement park look.  Today the park has art studios, dance classes, a small playground, a restored carousel, and other visual arts and performing arts classes.  But unless you go on a family day or another time where there is a big event, there truly isn’t a whole lot to do unless you plan for one of the classes in advances.  They did have a puppet show while we were there but it was recommended for kids ages five and over.  Anyway, we tried to get a few pics of the ladies together…these were the results…

They had lots of picnic tables so we had our little picnic….Harper loved her hot dog with ketchup….

Emerson was a little moody at times while we there….she really wanted a cupcake and Mommy and Daddy said no…

Avery only ate chips and clementines and was a happy camper….

After lunch, the girls were eager to play on the playground.  It was actually a weak playground in comparison to many of the playgrounds that we have closer to home; however, the girls enjoyed it (especially the swings) as you can see from these happy faces.

It’s been a COLD winter!  We’ve been keeping busy running around doing errands, attending birthday parties, and even going to the gym on weekends as a family.  We have had a few snowfalls this season as well although nothing too major that has resulted in more than one day of school being cancelled at a time. They have been having fun playing indoors…

and playing outdoors in the snow….

It’s the end of February and we are more than ready for some warm weather!!

Ms. Harper Paige!  While I still call you baby, the truth is, you’re not a baby anymore!  You have been walking for nearly 3 months now….and you are fast.  You like to runaway especially if you know someone is trying to pick you up or get you to go in a certain direction.  You run away and just laugh…you think it is funny and the truth is…it is funny!  You like to play with your sisters….they are rough with you…and you can surprisingly handle it…you are almost as rough right back at them.  You have developed a temper recently…especially when you don’t get something you want or if someone takes something away from you like a toy or something you shouldn’t have been playing with to begin with.  You have even recently started biting when you are mad or don’t get your way!  The first few times it was kind of funny just because you are on the young side to be doing so, but after the first few times, it wasn’t so funny anymore.  The main victims are your sisters….they are really good though and they don’t bite you back…even Avery who still sometimes has her own biting problem…the victim being Emerson.  You have been known to pull their hair as well, something else they are not a big fan of!  You grunt a lot…especially as a means of communication.  You say mama and dada on occasion but not really with meaning.  You understand pretty much everything though and I don’t think you are in a rush to talk….I guess you are satisfied with your sisters doing all of the talking. You love playing with your sisters and they adore you…they especially love to get up in your face and give you huge hugs….you’re not the biggest fan of their hugs as their hugs resemble very tight squeezes.  You have learned how to turn around and scoot down the stairs…you have been climbing the stairs for well over a month now…another task that you think is funny especially when you are supposed to be in the kitchen with mommy and you run away to escape up the stairs. 

Your hair is turning curly as I was certain it would….your hair is much lighter than when you were born, but not as light as your sister’s hair.  You are a pretty good eater although you don’t really like vegetables….and if there is a food you have been known to throw off your tray, its vegetables.  You drink about 18 ounces of cow’s milk a day now…I nursed you until about 11 months and frozen breast milk got us through just after your 1^st birthday.  The switch to cow’s milk was no big deal for you.  Your sleeping is great….you go down about 8:30 and sleep for up to 12 hours…..you stopped getting up at 6:00 a.m. after Mommy stopped nursing you.  You still nap twice a day for the most part….although sometimes your morning nap gets derailed by your sister’s ballet class or their pre-school pick-up.  You still suck your thumb; although, not as much as you used to.

And while you are no longer a baby, you are still a joy.  While you go to sleep unassisted, one particular night earlier this week, you woke up crying about 45 minutes after I put you down.  I’m not sure what was wrong but it was so out of the ordinary for you that I went in your room and quietly picked you up. You peacefully layed your head in my body and we rocked….I forgot about the dishes that awaited me in the kitchen and the laundry that was waiting to be folded….in that moment it was just you and me baby girl!

These precious moments with Harper are constant.  It’s hard to believe that the majority of the moments I have had with Harper have been moments like these.  Harper has never been much of a crier.  I can think of only two nights where she had trouble being consoled and even those times were no more than an hour at best.  During times when my stress level is about to go through the roof usually as a result of having two two and a half year olds who refuse to listen, hugging and holding Harper calms me.  Harpers temperament and constant smile and giggles are constant reminders of what really matters in life.  I know it is hard to believe, but I am being completely truthful when I say that this picture is truly representative of how I feel every moment with Harper.  

While the girls had a blast playing on the swings and the slides, Harper quietly sat in her stroller and watched her big sisters play.  

In her head she was thinking, “I can’t wait to have teeth one day so I can play.”

Usually when I sit down to write a blog post, I know exactly what my topic is going to be.  This time…not so much.  I know it is time to write a post and that is about it so I expect this to be a smorgasbord of topics. 

Harper is still such a good baby….honestly from her temperament to her feeding and sleeping schedule, she is awesome.  She has never had her days or nights confused and basically only wakens for one feeding.  I usually last nurse her around 11:30, nurse her again about 4:00 or 5:00 and then not again until 7:00ish….not bad for 4 weeks old!  She certainly does make up for it during the day as she nurses almost every 2 hours much of the day; however, she takes 10 minutes or less on average to nurse so I can’t complain.  We’re still working on her birth announcement (sigh) but should hopefully have it finalized this weekend.  I purchased some bows from Amazon last week and was happy with the way the pictures turned out….not sure why we can’t figure out this birth announcement thing.   Here are some of our favorite pictures from the past month. These first pictures Harper was only 5 days old….hard to believe as she looks older than that!

Almost 2 weeks old wearing a beautiful outfit and bonnet made by Gigi’s cousin Joyce. 

Guess Harper didn’t like it that much….

Almost 3 weeks old….wearing a pretty bow given to her by Uncle Russell, Aunt Mary, and cousins Michael and Caroline….

Still almost 3 weeks old here…

3 1/2 weeks old….bows courtesy of Mommy…

Harper fits into our family so perfectly.  We haven’t really let having a new baby keep us from our “normal” routine.  We still try to get out as much as we can.  At Meadowlark….

At home….playing…

At home…napping…

We’ve also had a few people visit us including Elisha (my best friend from growing up) and her 6 month old daughter Ella.  Elisha is my oldest friend…we have been friends since we were age 2!  At home with friends….

These pictures crack me up especially of Emerson.  First of all Avery and Emerson had just had a bath and Ana parted Emerson’s hair on the right side which I think looks odd on her.  Secondly, she wouldn’t smile which is quite contrary to her typical cheese face that she displays the majority of time for pictures.  The night before my parent’s had their pool closed and while the two men were closing the pool, the ice cream man came by and one of the men bought the girls shaved ice.  It was practically melted before they started and it was blue.  What was I to do but to quickly strip their shirts off, put on a bib, and let them dig in.

There you have it my friends….a selection of Emerson’s cheese faces. 

This upcoming weekend is my birthday.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful.  I’m looking forward to a fun filled weekend with my family!