Halloween, Slim Jims, and Snow White

It is Halloween and our little Harper is so excited, mainly because she got Slim Jims (a very rare treat around here) from one of her great grandmas. 

We did our family trick-or-treating yesterday and Harper was amply spoiled. She was so spoiled, in fact, that I'm pretty certain she is going to be confused (and possibly angry) when she knocks on doors tonight and receives only one piece of candy as opposed to an entire bag of treats.

Happy Halloween!

By the way... Did you know that Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is 74 years old? In 2007 it was named the greatest American animated film of all time by the American Film Institute. Isn't that wonderful? I love watching the movie with Harper and knowing that Walt Disney himself worked on it and that it was one of his masterpieces.

Did you know that Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White, was not allowed to appear in any other film or media because Walt Disney didn't want to spoil the illusion of his fair skinned princess? Caselotti, by the way, was paid only $970 for her work on the film. 

I chose Harper's costume because it is so iconic. Snow White's dress is unmistakable and is as easily recognized by Harper's great grandparents as it is by her toddler friends. Had Harper been Rapunzel or Tiana, I would have had to tell many people who she was (my mom has seen neither Tangled nor The Princess and the Frog). It's not like that with Snow White and I hope that it never will be. Snow White, like Scarlett O'Hara or Dorothy Gale, is an American classic. 

When Ariel Goes to Walmart, She Buys Bananas (Or at Least She Asks Her Mom To Buy Them For Her)

Hello and Happy Friday, my sweet friends!

Colt is out of town doing boyish things this evening (he's hunting... you probably know how I feel about that... still, he loves it and who am I to deny him his fun?). He won't be back until tomorrow afternoon so it's just Harper and me for a while. We have a little dinner (Red Butte Cafe, anyone?) date with Calli, Whitney, and Kenzie planned for tonight, and tomorrow morning we are going to attempt some Christmas shopping.

Before we know it Colt will be home and our Halloweenish fun can begin.

We are planning on picking/carving pumpkins, visiting family, and trying to stay warm (cold weather season has arrived in Utah and I'm not even going to complain about it because it gave me a the perfect excuse to do some much needed sweater/skirt/socks/leg warmers shopping) this weekend.

How about you? How will you be celebrating Halloween?

Anyway, this is what our week looked like, according to instagram...

Bananas with Ariel at Walmart, red for Ruby, gymnastics, a new toy for Colt, Halloween cupcakes... It was a good week.

There were some sad moments (not for us specifically but for people that we know) and I received a much needed reminder about the fragility of life. I remembered that Harper needs to come first in all things. Cleaning, blogging, laundry, and other tasks can wait. Her childhood- her sweet, youthful innocence- cannot (will not) wait.

I've promised myself that if Harper asks me to color/play/snuggle with her, I will drop whatever it is I'm doing in order to fulfill her request. I will color/play/snuggle with Harper every day until she tells me to stop (which, I'm sure, will happen all too soon and long before I'm ready).

And if I'm being completely honest with myself, I'd much rather color/play/snuggle than clean/fold/blog. Sorry guys. You're great and I love you but Harper has my heart (all of it, in the palm of her tiny- and often sticky- hand).

Ariel and Her Friends

My parents thought that Harper looked so cute in her Snow White dress that they bought her an Ariel one when they were in town. She loves it and wants to wear it all the time, even when we go to Wal Mart for Clorox Wipes. She put it on first thing this morning and has been singing and dancing ever since.

I can't decide if her costume looks more like an Ariel dress or a Josie Grossie imitation...?

Harper isn't the only little princess dancing around our house this morning.

 Belle and Sleeping Beauty are here, too.

These three princess are going to spend the day dancing, eating cupcakes, and decorating cookies.

You'd better believe that they are going to have a great time.

Harper at Two

It occurred to me earlier this morning that I've yet to write a proper "all about Harper" birthday post. She's two now (I still can't believe it myself) and she knows it. It is as if she went from baby to little girl overnight. I was in Smith's last night when I remembered that we were running low on wipes. I stood in the baby aisle looking at bottles, bibs, baby shampoos, and diapers and I must admit that I was a little (ok, a lot) sad when I realized that, wipes aside, we no longer need to purchase baby items.

Instead of teething toys and formula, we buy Ariel underwear and fruit snacks. It's weird. It's really weird.

When I was pregnant, all I could think about was having a baby- a snugly little soul that smelled good and wore teeny tiny clothes. It never occurred to me that I'd turn around or blink and in no time at all, I'd have a kid- one that never stops growing/talking/moving and is oftentimes a little stinky (Harper smells delish right out of the bathtub but then she eats Cheetos or dips her pizza in ranch and she's suddenly a smelly little thing).

I miss baby Harper but I'm definitely crazy for little girl Harper. She is an absolute delight. She keeps us on our toes all day long. She is a handful (just ask Colt about her nightly breakdowns...) but we love her and couldn't ask for a more spunky/fun/entertaining child.

Harper can:
Count to three (and sometimes five!)
Recognize shapes and a few letters
Recognize and name numerous animals and their proper sounds
Jump, gallop, and somersault
Do the actions to several songs
Sing on key (roughly)
Speak in sentences
Ask questions (we hear, "What's that?" about two dozen times a day right now)
Recognize and name everyone in our family (and even a few in our extended family)

Harper likes:
Ariel (of course)
Singing (preferably like Ariel)
Wearing skirts (twirly ones)
Dressing up (preferably like a princess in a twirly skirt)
Cheetos (she probably likes them more than she likes candy... seriously)
Sauce (aka ranch dressing... she loves the stuff and even eats it on her fruit roll ups)
Stories (preferably princess ones)
Coloring
Stickers
Puzzles
Running outside
The Upside Down Show (it makes her laugh out loud)
Princess movies (The Little Mermaid, Tangled, Snow White, and The Princess and the Frog are her favorites)
Gymnastics Class
The zoo (more specifically, the carousel at the zoo)
Seeing her grandparents
Dogs (we recently saw a dog in the back of a jeep and Harper said, "oh... cute" and my heart... it melted)
Going outside at night to see the moon and stars
Edamame, black beans, green beans, fruit snacks, pizza, and Pringles (her favorite foods, for this week at least)
Arm/belly/hand/leg rubs

Harper doesn't like:
Having her hair washed/styled (occasionally she will let me do a little braid but otherwise, we don't even bother to comb it anymore- we just let those little curls do whatever they please)
Leaving the library (it's a tantrum- an embarrassing one- every time)
Spiderman (he's scary)
Masks (also scary)
Alligators (super duper scary)
Jeans (she will not wear them and that's okay... I had a mom who forced me to wear things I hated and so I've promised myself to always give Harper a say when it comes to getting dressed, even if that means taking a mini Ariel to the grocery store... which we did, two days ago)
Wearing socks (pretty sure she got that from me)
Brushing her teeth (it's a fight, every single day)
Being away from Scout when he's having his washing machine bath (she misses him)
Sharing her toys, her mama, her furniture, or her snacks (someday, she will be a nice girl, I promise)
Posing for photos (if she sees my camera, she ignores me)

Harper is everything that is good in life- happy, hopeful, brave, faithful, healthy, and fun. She keeps me grounded and makes me want to be/live/love better. She will never know how much she has inspired me. She will never know that, in many ways, she has changed my life.

Buttons for You

For those of you who wanted a button, you're wait is over. I know I've kept you in suspense (and yes, complete agony) for a couple of months. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. :)

 There are four new (and super cute) buttons to choose from. Go here to get one.

The pink on pink one is my favorite, for sure.

Our Weekend Was Awesome

Our weekend was awesome.

On Saturday, we met Baby Reggie (my great-niece). Isn't she cute? Isn't she so much smaller than Harper? I'm really starting to understand why people have more babies- because the one they already have grows up way to quickly.

My niece Maranda (Reggie's mom) lives in Colorado and so we only see her about once a year, which isn't nearly often enough. In addition to little Reggie, she has two sons (Ridge and Stren) and they kept us laughing all day on Saturday. It was fun to hang out with some older kids for a change.

On Sunday, we went to the zoo with my niece (Skye) and nephew (Zack) and my great-nephew (Cash). Cash, as you will see, is the cutest little guy ever. If anything makes me wish for a little boy in my life, it's him. I would love to have a little boy (we need someone to look out for Harper!)- one with his daddy's curls that wears cowboy boots and plays in the dirt every single day.

Hogle Zoo is beautiful in the fall. The weather is perfect and the leaves are lovely and really, if you haven't been to the zoo in autumn, you're missing out.

We have all sorts of fun Halloweenish stuff planned for the next few days. I'm excited to visit the pumpkin patch, make soup, carve pumpkins, take Harper trick-or-treating, and visit with family. It's going to be a great week.

I'll Bet That You Didn't Know That...

Snow White likes to read.

Well, maybe she doesn't (I don't really know either way), but Harper does, especially when she is dressed as Snow White.

We finally got Harper to try on her costume last night (thanks only to another little "Snow White" that we happened to see at Zupas last night) and now she thinks she is tres fancy.

The only problem is that it's a bit small. I ordered the next size up last night and would like to turn the bottom part of this one into a cute yellow skirt for Harper. Any advice on who might want to do this for me (for pay, of course)?

Adorable Daughter/Happy Husband

I think that Harper might also have a little old lady that lives in her soul.

I'm pretty sure that only a little old lady would wear this outfit (which Harper chose, just so you know... the only thing I decided upon was the mermaid braid) to the library.

 When it comes to personal style, Harper is a girl that knows what she likes. She has found what works for her (skirts, character shirts, dresses, and mary janes) and is sticking with it. Harper's style is what I'd call "comfy princess." She likes her clothing to be comfortable (therefore, no jeans or anything overly restrictive) and she likes it to be twirly. The dress above is especially twirly and Harper loves it. It's a summer dress but we are making it work for fall by pairing it with cardigans and leggings.

So, my parents are coming today and that's awesome. I can't wait to see them and even more, I can't wait to see Harper see them. She gets so excited and runs all over the house showing off and acting a fool and it's just adorable. Really though, everything Harper does is adorable.

In other news, I have the happiest husband in the world right now. Colt bought a new truck this week (he's picking it up next week) and he is seriously like a kid at Christmas (can't sleep, can't stop talking about his new toy, thinks his new toy is better than all of the other new toys, etc.). We sold his Tacoma yesterday afternoon and it was a little bit sad because after all, we (Colt, Hazel, and I) had our first date in that truck.

In Harper's words, "bye bye truck."

Harps is actually saying all sorts of sentences lately. I'm usually the only person who knows what/whom she is talking about but that's okay. Actually, if I'm honest, I like it that way. For now, at least, I'm still Harper's favorite. She's my favorite, too.

"If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember.

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

But the most important thing is... even if we're apart... I'll always be with you."

-A.A. Milne

A Party for Harper

Harps had a pretty chill birthday party this year. We had family over, ate food, and opened presents. I feel like last year's party was more for me and next year's party will be totally for her so this year was sort of an in-between.

Harper had an Ariel party and if she had been older, I would have loved to involve her in getting creative on decorations and food. Since she is still too young to remember or help with her party, everything was pretty simple, which was probably for the best since our townhouse is rather small. Next year, we will be in an actual house and will be able to have some super big fun with her party.

(Confession: I did not coin the phrase "big fun." It came from my cousin Penny in an e-mail a couple of months ago. I love it and therefore, use it all the time.)

In the end, a simple party was best. Colt's back went out the morning of her party and so it was good that we weren't going anywhere because we would have had to leave him home. My parents were also unable to make it because my mom was sick. Plus, I unknowingly planned the party in the middle of a U of U game so our friends and Kenzie weren't there, either. We had a small crowd: my in-laws, Calli and Cody, Whitney, and all of Colt's grandparents were there. (By the way, how awesome is it that Harper has four healthy and active great-grandparents?) Everyone spoiled her rotten (we also had a party with the daycare kids and they spoiled her, too!) and it was really nice to spend the afternoon with the people that love Harper.

It's really incredible to think about how many people love Harper. I don't think I ever understood the village concept until I became a parent. Now I get it. I see how important grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends are to a child's growth. Knowing that we have a really strong network of support for our daughter brings a lot of peace of mind. Harper is surrounded by amazing people and I'm so thankful to our family and friends for all that they do for her and for the love that they give her every day. Harper truly has an awesome village- lucky girl.

My photos of Harper's party aren't really that wonderful.  Whitney was there, however, and so was her camera so hopefully I'll have some better images to share with you here pretty soon.

 Harper's Aunts (doesn't make make them sound old? They aren't old... they are awesome) 

gave her a Rapunzel doll set. She loves it!

Out of all of Harper's birthday prizes, this little Ariel statue is her favorite.

She plays/relaxes/sleeps/bathes with it everyday.

She's a funny girl, that Harper.