December and the months that have followed have been busy here in SoCal (hence the delay in my posts? :) ) It never really felt much like the holidays were coming, as it was still the same ol' fabulous weather here, so they snuck up on us. We decided to do our first Holiday card featuring the Queen herself, Harper G. We chose Huntington Beach, with it's surfers and beautiful surf as our back drop. H cooperated for the most part and we got some great shots of her.
Before we traveled east (& south) to visit our families in Texas, we made sure to celebrate with our friends here. We made and decorated sugar cookies with Landon and Ansley Fitzgerald (some fellow Texas friends that have landed themselves in SoCal also). The sugar overload was so much fun (until that night of restless sleep).
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| Harper enjoying the sunshine at our favorite beach-side park. |
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| Harper and I cooking together. Our new favorite thing to do where H's proclaims, "Watch!" whenever I start cooking. |
One of Harper's other favorite things to do paint and we finally got a picture of it. This finger painting adventure ended in a body painted Harper that Patrick and I loved watching (all the while giggling with Harper).
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| We tried to have some of Harper's gifts shipped before the holidays to avoid traveling with too much. Here she is opening some Weeble-Wobble fun from Nene and Papa over Skype. |
Once we arrived in Texas for our short 6 day holiday visit, we tried to see everyone we could possibly fit in. We started with a dinner with my dad, step-mom Pat, Uncle John, Aunt Monica, and Aunt Andrea. Harper took to Uncle John and Aunt Andrea immediately. It was so nice to see her feel so comfortable with family. Here are some of our adventures in the Lone Star state.
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| We stayed with Nene & Papa and had lots of time to play. The basket of balls you see here was by far H's favorite! |
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| Christmas morning was so much fun this year. Harper was so excited to open gifts and truly enjoyed playing with it all. |
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| Doing one of her ballet moves for the camera. |
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| Harper and her cousin, Hunter. |
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| She still loves this pink vest! |
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| We also got to celebrate Harper's 2nd birthday with all her grandparents. |
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| Harper loves pretending to be girlie; i.e. doing hair, putting on make-up, primping in general. But she refuses to let us do her hair or put a stinkin' bow in it. Of course. Here she is helping her Aunt Andrea do her hair. She loved watching Andrea and followed her around the house the whole time. |
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| Harper and Grammy on Main St. in Grapevine for their Christmas celebration. |
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| My old friend Crystal from high school and I got to see each other for the first time since we both became mommies. It was so much fun to catch up and watch the kiddos play. |
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| We also got a chance to see my dear friends from NY Bonnee and Charlotte. Bonnee is scheduled to have her baby boy just 2 short weeks before I deliver Baby Wille #2. |
Once we arrived home, we celebrated Harper's birthday on the actual day by filling her room with balloons and streamers so she could awake to her own special celebration. She was stunned and squealing with joy when we found her on the morning of Dec. 29. Happy 2nd birthday, sweet girl.
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| We tried to go somewhere special for her birthday but all she wanted was to go to the park. Ahh, to be 2 again. |
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| Our good friends Angela& Jason and their 2 daughters, Grace and Leah brought Harper a yummy cupcake to celebrate her big day. We heart our SoCal friends! |
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| Harper spent most of the day playing with both me and Daddy and pretendingt o go to work with her new birthday backpack (courtesy of Grammy). |
