Happy 2008!

Well, on this first day of 2008 (gulp) I reckon I am not the only one lamenting the fact that years seem to go by like weeks these days--a reality that's more glaringly obvious than ever since Harper joined us. She adds a new feature to her repertoire almost daily now. Some things are less noticeable to the layman, like how her hair seems to grow a remarkable amount overnight. Others are much bigger, like how she now adds "mommy" or "daddy" to her sentences. As in, "thank you, Mommy." She actually thanked me for putting diaper cream on her bottom last week, which was such an unexpectedly sweet moment that I had to fight back tears as I said, "you're welcome, Harper."

So, in an effort to keep all of our Harpertown followers a little more up-to-date on her warp- speed blossoming, we've updated Harpertown a bit for 2008. Please note the newly added "Loves" and "Snubs" feature on the right side of the page and the addition of Evelyn Nugent and Gus O'Brien's blog links. Welcome Evelyn and Gus! We're so glad you're here. We look forward to watching you two grow up with Harper Mae the same way we grew up with your folks. Wow.

Here's to an incredibly happy and peaceful 2008 everyone!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays too!

It's been an eventful and lovely holiday season so far...

First, Harper picked out a Christmas Tree.


Then, she "helped" decorate the tree by removing nearly every ornament in her reach and then, more often than not, breaking them. She also discovered the joy of relaxing around a musical snow globe with her Dad.


Then she partied down with some Christmas tree cupcakes with her friends, Ava, Cate, Gavin, Ben and Alexander at a lovely brunch hosted by our friends Tiffany and Kevin.



Then we traveled to East Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with Mac Daddy (aka Mackie), Grammy and Harper's cousins. This is where Harper discovered that Christmas time truly is the most wonderful time of the year. After she opened a ridiculously wonderful amount of gifts, she walked around and around the tree saying and signing "More, More, More...peeaas?"


Merry Christmas to all Harpertown followers! We wish you all the warmest of holiday times.

Well the weather outside is frightful

but the fire is so delightful. I love that song. It's not snowing here today, but it's raining and feeling very holiday/winter-cozy.

A little something from Harper's winter collection for y'all to enjoy. Thank you, Flavia!

Guess Who Looks Just Like Her Mom as a Baby?

A Saturday Threefer

Happy Autumn, everyone.

Yello?!

You don't have to be able to pronounce yellow for it to be your favorite color.

Far too long

You know when you REALLY need to call an old friend but the thought of all the catching-up you would need to do is so daunting that you just keep putting it off? Furthermore, you sort of half hope that you'll get voicemail so you can leave a few tiny morsels of info and at very least relieve your aching mind? If you know that feeling, then you understand why the blog is so out of date...

Anyway, here's the voicemail. "Hey! How are you?! I am so sorry I have been so out of touch. Things have been CRAZY, crazy, crazy but we are slowly starting to emerge from the fog. ANYWAY, Harper is doing great! She was Dumbo for Halloween (see picture above), she's started saying 'Bless you' when she or anyone around her sneezes, she colored part of our new banister with a black crayon yesterday, and she has learned to say Carmine's name (much to Carmie's chagrin). She chases Carmie around very close to constantly repeating 'CARMIE, CARMIE, CARMIE' over and over again. The only thing that can divert her attention is 'Sash' the cat. Anyway, I've prattled on long enough. I hope all is well with y'all. We think about you all the time even though I imagine it's hard to see that from our lack of correspondence. Chat soon!"

One year ago?!

How is it possible that this picture was taken only and at the same time an entire year ago? It just doesn't seem possible. It doesn't seem possible that she couldn't say anything in this picture and now she says my name (Mommy) no less than 45 times a day. How is it possible that today she told me she wanted more milk and equally emphatically that she didn't want ANY carrots? NO! NO, Mommy! No!


In this picture I can still make out the soft spot on her head and today when I asked her if she was ready to go to school she said, "READDDYYY!!!!" with as much enthusiasm as if I had asked her if she was ready for Elmo to live with us forever. (She's really fond of Elmo.) She now runs and jumps (kind of) and dances on her Daddy's shoes and hugs. Well, she thinks hugging is placing your head against someone else's head but it's very similar in sentiment.

She talks close to incessantly and if you listen closely you can very clearly make out every tenth or eleventh word. She sings and mocks and gives high fives and sometimes I even find her pretending to read on her own. I mean, really...it just doesn't seem possible. She tells me to put on my shoes and she knows that her cat's name is "Sash" (Sass) and that two comes before three, but still isn't quite sure that it comes after one...or if one exists at all for that matter. She knows that ducks quack and cows moo and that anyone who isn't taller than she is a "baby."

She's tremendous and she's almost 18 months old, and I cannot for the life of me remember what we did without her.

Just a little something to brighten your Tuesday

Try as I might

Try as I might I cannot come up with anything interesting or punny to say about tunnels or slides.


Oh and here's one from a brief period recently when Harper would put on as many bibs as possible and prance around like she was a model in some sort of bib show.

Hope all's well everywhere.
-Us

I Think We're Done Traveling for Awhile

So from Pennsylvania we went home and, judging by this blog, nothing much happened for a few weeks (except we went to a birthday party and Harper wore a dress and was relentlessly cute).

Then we went to New York to watch some people get married and see some old friends and do all the things that go along with all of those things. Here are some pictures of us doing those things. Featured here: Harper playing with her friend Sasha, riding on an airplane, looking up and yelling "airplane!" while playing with her friend Sasha, wearing a furry hat and playing in the bath. And just to class the place up a bit, here's a shot of Amanda looking lovely at the wedding, cuz who doesn't love a pretty lady in a cocktail dress?

Keep those cards and letters coming,
Harper's Folks.

Harper Goes to the Lake

I'm not sure if it's adventuresome living or poor planning, but somehow we've gotten ourselves into a predicament where getting together with old friends is a geographically tricky endeavor.

Luckily for us, we've got friends who are up for the challenge. Here are some photos of our old friends and Harper's new ones.

George, Millie and Harper.

George and Harper.

Now, when I say THREE everyone look creepy!

New Digs

Sorry for the recent radio silence. As you may have gathered from previous entries, we've moved. Our new house is getting accustomed to our shenanigans and another round of packing tape, boxes and crumpled-up newspaper is happily behind us. Hopefully, the 102-degree weather that escorted us through this process is behind us too.

As for the star of our show, Harper's talking up a storm still and loving her new house and neighborhood, as are we.

The neighbors are great, the streets are quiet. What more could a family ask for?

Bye-Bye

Harper is saying bye-bye a lot these days. And with mixed emotions, so are we. After nearly five years at the Best House We've Ever Had, we're packing up and moving on to a new home that will surely steal the title. Tonight is the last night here and tomorrow will be the first night there.

It's tempting to wax rhapsodic about all of the things we've done and gone through here, but the most important of those have been documented on this Blog over the past year or so. Feel free to create a cinematic walk down memory lane on your own time. Just make sure it has a nice soundtrack.

We're expanding, but the five years we've spent here will always live here. Which is nice. That's where they belong. Stay tuned for what the next five have in store.

Love,
Us

Harper and the Meerkats

Everyone loves meerkats. Everyone loves Harper. Coincidence?

"Moh" Vocab & Teeth

After a tough couple of weeks of the long-awaited two front teeth arriving, the littlest Phillips is back to her charming self and talking up a storm. She is picking up a word or two a day! It's amazing to witness. Some of her new favorites are: Apple, Down, Dawg (yes, with that exact pronunciation), kitty, no, shoes, bebo (belly button), milk and a very good grasp of the no and yes head shake (previously confused, now spot-on). She's running and giggling and being nothing but pure joy to BP and myself. In the midst of boxes and packing and general personal mayhem, she's nothing but pure love. See for yourself...

I Left My Harp in San Francisco

Just kidding. I brought her home. Love to everyone. Moh later.

Homes & Hugs

It has been a busy few weeks. We bought a new house, sold our current home, suffered through two stomach viruses, one round of pink eye, an incredibly busy work schedule for both me and BP and Harper moving up to the toddler class at school... all while keeping an impeccably clean home (the joys of having a house on the market).

Luckily we're all well now, our house has a contract and Harper has taken to handing out the biggest, sweetest hugs ever known to man or woman. She's talking up a storm. Her favorite new words: Ball (Baw), Dog (Daawg) and More (Moah). She uses these words a lot. A whole lot and in rapid fire. Baw, Baw, Baw, Baw, Baw...you get the picture. Anyway, sorry we've been so incommunicado lately. We have no excuse.

The Many Faces of Harper

Happy Harper

Harper Appleseed
Pope Harper I

This Kid is the Best

So here are some shots of Harper doing what she does best: sit around and be lovely in almost every situation.

Here she is being lovely and having something to eat.


Here she is being lovely while I give her a Mohawk in the bath.


Here she is being lovely with my hat on.


And here she is being lovely and saving money by shopping wholesale.


That's all folks. See you next time on Being Lovely With Harper.

Belated Beach pics

Sorry it has taken us more than a week to get these posted. We have been busy doing things like running, falling and bumping our head in the same place so many times I'm quite sure we are going to be reported, eating cheese and learning to say new words like, "baby." From what I can tell a baby in Harper's mind can range from a 6-month-old to a cat, but she's getting the idea.

I hope you have as much fun looking at these pictures as we had making them. Oh, as for the terrible scab on her forehead, I assure you it looked a whole lot worse when it happened.

That's the biggest bathtub I have ever seen...

I think the beach is more fun inside...

Driving the boat with Nana...

Learning that sand is better uneaten...

For the love of...

For Pete's sake, post a new blog!