Family Photos!

A few weeks ago, I shared a little summary of our recent family photo session. Basically, it was a total disaster. Harper decided she wasn't having it and had meltdowns and tantrums until we left. #toddlerlife, for real.

Our photographer, Crystal, from Crystal Lynn Photography (I found her via Marissa at The Simple Swan!) assured us that she got some good shots despite the limited time and non-screaming/crying facial expressions.

I was plesantly surprised by the photos and I'm excited to share them with you! Though I wish there were more that captured Harper's true personality (the sweet, happy, mischevious and funny girl we know)--- they sure did capture how she felt at the time they were being taken and I think we will look back on them and have a giggle--- and they'll definitely make it into a wedding slideshow.

my dress- zara  |  sandals- tory burch  |  earrings- kate spade (love these two similar styles 1, 2)  |  bracelet- j.crew

harper's dress- baby gap  |  tutu + sanadals - zara  

kevin's shirt- j.crew factory (similar) |  jeans- express 

the ONE smiling photo, LOL!

she usually loves "playing airplane" but this face says it all!

 "mommy nooooooo"

This was cute--- she spotted some dolls in a window of a store and smiled for a few moments!

 I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Our Weekend...

I've been way behind on blogging this past week because I was in San Francisco (seriously one of the most amazing US cities I've ever been to) on a blogger's trip with StitchFix. It was such an amazing experience and I'm so excited to share it with you. I'm still going through photos of the trip but I'll have something up later this week. In the meantime, you can find some photos from the trip on my Instagram account.

Though I had an incredible time, it was so nice to come home to my family and enjoy our weekend together! My flight was delayed and didn't get to Houston until nearly 2 a.m., so Harper was a little confused when I walked into her room Saturday morning. I fed her breakfast and soon we were playing peek-a-boo. She loves opening and closing doors and "hiding" from me. 

Harper's romper, ? CuteHeads

In other cuteness, Harper said "cheese" for the first time this weekend and I actually caught a snap of her saying it!

Saturday we hung out at home (me in my PJ's with dark circles under my eyes) playing, unpacking and taking naps when Harper did because I was still tired from the trip and plane ride home (I didn't sleep well on the flight). It was the perfect time to make up for the lost few days of snuggles.

Sunday we had a play date with Bennett and Tyler and we all headed out to Buffalo Grille for some brunch. 

After brunch, we played at Liz's house for a little while and then we all headed home so our toddlers could nap. I had to pick up a few things at Target during nap time, so I headed there with a list on my phone and no intentions of sticking to it (isn't that how it always goes at Target?)

Harper does a lot of coloring and arts + crafts at school (they send their projects home each week!) so I picked up more markers, crayons, coloring books and blank pads for her. I LOVE to draw and color with her so it's a little for me, too, haha! She has a habit of scribbling over every single thing I draw. I also started to ask her "do you want mommy to draw _______" and she tells me yes or no. It's so cute.

 crayola color wonder mini markers  |  crayola color wonder brush-tip markers

crayola color wonder mess-free coloring  |  crayola color wonder mess-free coloring mickey mouse clubhouse

crayola washable crayons  |  crayola washable markers 

drawing pad

five little pumpkins  |  room on the broom 

if i could keep you little  |  happy halloween daniel tiger!

polar bear polar bear, what do you hear?

bunny peplum pullover (just $12!)

mead notebook- college ruled  |  mead notebook- wide ruled  |  pilot pink pens 

anastasia of beverly hills #12 brow brush (not from Target but wanted to include it anyway since I got it to work with my dipbrow  |  Tom's of Maine Toddler Fluoride-Free Natural Training Toothpaste

decorative glass pumpkins- in stores--- LOVE these and these (need to order them!)

I tried on this top by Mossimo, but I need to order one size down. I may just wait for a re-stock since it's   a basic.

When I got back from Target little miss was still napping. She had a three hour nap which is a rarity these days. As you might imagine, she was a ball of energy for the rest of the night. We read our new books, colored and ran around like wild things!

It took me a week to realize why Harper would randomly say "ba ba ba ba ba." I thought she was babbling. She always says it when she sees her sheep mat and her lamb upstairs. Duh. It is unbelievable how much her language has exploded in the past few weeks. She went from saying just a handful of words at her 15-month appointment to saying and repeating new words on a daily basis.

Harper's headband- little hip squeaks

 In other news, I can't get over how long her pony tail is getting!

Harper's headband by Ryan and Wren

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here's a fun shot of our photo shoot with StitchFix. I can't wait to share more!

Our Weekend...

Happy Sunday!

This weekend we celebrated the birthday of one of my husband's friend's sons who turned 4! Happy birthday Bryan! We also got to see their new home for the first time and catch up with friends which was great.

It was strangely cool on Saturday which was a welcome change from the super-high temps we've been seeing lately.

 Some of my favorite photos are candids of Kevin with Harper�

One of Harper's new words is "bubbles" so she was delighted to find a bottle in her treat bag.

 Then she ran away...

�taking the bubbles with her...

...and she kept going...

Then she wanted to drink from a bottle. It was funny because she was so insistent she didn't want help and everyone was cheering her on.

 How did my baby get so big?

 Harper and the birthday boy ninja!

Today we had our family photos taken. It was the first time we had professional photos done since Harper was born, so I had really been looking forward to it.

Well folks, let's just say that I could not have imagined a more horrible way for the session to go. I planned the session for 9:30 a.m. Harper wakes up at 7, so we had breakfast and we played before we left the house. She was in quite a splendid mood. The session was to last 1.5 hours and then we were going to go out for lunch and be home just in time for her noonish nap time. Perfect, right?

Not so much. The car ride was about 40 minutes and Harper tends to take cat naps in her car seat even when she isn't tired (that's how we got her to sleep on our flights to and from Toronto- put this baby in a car seat, and she naps). She hadn't fallen asleep on the ride to the location but she did start to nod off a little when we arrived and waited for the photographer to get there. I thought she would be fine after that (she had a nap in the car yesterday when we drove to our friend's party, the same distance away, and was great when we got there).

We met our photographer and drove up the road to the field we were shooting in. I wanted a really natural backdrop, so it was perfect. We got all ready to start shooting and for the first five minutes Harper was doing well and cracked a few smiles playing peek-a-boo�after that, it was crying and meltdowns. The. entire. time. All of the stuff she usually loves was a total no-go. She didn't want to be there and she let us know it! 

I gave her some goldfish crackers thinking maybe after she ate them she would be more agreeable to a few snapshots. The photographer suggested we move away from the field so we went into the little town area and tried to take a few shots on the steps of an old looking general store. That was when Harper decided that she had enough and had a full on-throw herself to the floor tantrum. Lovely.

So we decided that instead of trying to wait it out, we would just reschedule. We had gotten some shots in the field and it was time to call it a day.

When the photographer left, Harper was exploring the area we were shooting and we got a few smiles from her then as we played (of course)�but she made her way to the car and we headed home.

Next time, my plan is to go to the location early, play around as a family and let her get used to the environment before the photographer arrives. I can imagine it can be strange for a toddler to exit the car and walk into a field and have someone they've never met keep calling their name. 

When we got home, she was laughing, running all over and smiling ear to ear�go figure!

Here's to next time�and I hear my sweet girl waking up on the baby monitor as I type this�so I'm signing off.

Have a happy Sunday!