CHRISTMAS 2015

Best Christmas to date.

The joy of a child on Christmas makes this holiday (which is already our favorite) that much more magical. I had family come to visit before and after Christmas, which made our holiday extend just a few more days (like 6 more) - no complaints here!

Christmas. A day to celebrate Jesus' birth, and that we did! 

We started Christmas Eve with going to the late afternoon candlelight service. Rather than sending Harper off to nursery, we decided we wanted to share this experience with her. Seeing the amazement in her eyes along with her little innocence, brought tears to my eyes.

Following the service, we headed back to our house to spend the evening with family. It was full of eating, drinking, sugar cookie decorating, and a gift exchange for the adults - which causes more anxiety than should be normal as everyone stresses about which gift they are going to end up with!

Once everyone had left and we finally got Harper down for bed, it was time to play Santa and get ready for the morning. Brandon and I were filled with so much excitement at the anticipation of Christmas morning for Harper to see her gifts. No doubt, more than her! :)

Christmas morning was even more magical that I could've imagined! Harper had so much fun opening packages, playing in the wrapping paper, enjoying her new toys, and then repeat :) Once we finished breakfast + gift opening, we headed over to Brandon's parents' to continue on with 'Christmas morning'. 

We shared a great meal with a house full of family and friends. 

Harper never made it out of her jammies.

Took naps.

And failed at taking a family picture.

It was all just perfect :)

Being that at this point we have also had New Years Eve... here's how the night finished out with family.

A game of Apples to Apples + jammies + chamomile tea.

Happiest New Year to you!!

xoxo

-Brittney

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 2015

We had a great Christmas and hope you did too!

card design: CKFireboots on Etsy

photography: Ivy and Tweed 

xoxo

-Brittney

Harper Monaé || 17 months

17 months. 

Nope. I don't believe it.

This must have been the quickest month of all time. I'll blame it on the holidays :)

And I'm late on this post - like 5 days late (little miss turned on the 13th of the month) but again I'll blame it on the holidays. because once again, busy season!

This month has been so full of changes for Harper girl (like her sleep - but in a good way!) and her personality is shining through more and more every darn day. and I absolutely love it! She's like my little best friend and her and I seem to really get each other. Sometimes that's great and sometimes that's not so great.. we're both a tad stubborn and know what we want ;)

E A T

Still going strong in this department! As you can tell by her messy face, chubby cheeks, and if you saw her legs - her inner thigh rolls :) Her chubbiness is still my absolute favorite. And it is still mindblowing that she even became chubby in the first place, since she was born as a string bean! My milk must've been straight sweet cream ;)

S L E E P

We've drawn the lucky card in this hot topic too! Of course we've had our tough times of no sleep with a baby, but all in all she is a dang good sleeper. Especially now!

Ever since we got back home from Thanksgiving in Idaho, Harper has been sleeping s o  m u c h  more! For the last few months, her usual (at night) was 8pm-7:30am. Straight through the night. No wake ups. Which was of course fabulous.

Well for about 5 days (after our Thanksgiving trip) she slept 8pm-11:30/12noon (yes! into the next day!) I attributed it to less sleep when traveling and expected her to go back to the norm after a day or two. But really... that lasted about 5 days! and now, ever since then, we're on a 8pm-8:30/9am schedule. I'm not complaining! Soaking in the days while they're here :) Oh, and she s t i l l takes her 1-4pm nap. I'm going to say growth spurt!

P L A Y
Play. Play. Play.
All the live long day.
That's the name of the game around here. Every waking minute Harper is constantly on the go playing. and it is oh so fun for me. I love this stage!
She sings. and dances. and plays pretend with her toys. and gets into my kitchen cupboards. and teases the dog. and colors. and plays in my clothes. and runs around the house owning the place.
It's too good and it's too fun :) But by nap time, I'm feeling ready for one too!

P H O T O  D U M P

Oh my precious girl. Life with you is more than I ever, ever could've imagined. You bring the light into my world and teach me to be a better me. You are such a gift from God. I've had you in my life for 17 months now and somehow it keeps getting better. I can only imagine where our life will be in the years to come. I pray we will always be close to each other. You have the sweetest spirit and are full of energy. You make this life happier every day. I feel beyond blessed that I get to spend each and every day with you. I love you, sweet Harper Monaé.

xoxo

-Brittney