Our Little Lioness!

The king of the jungle.

We decided several weeks ago that Olivia should be a lion for Halloween because all she ever did was growl or roar. Well, of course, when Halloween rolls around she completely stops. We haven't heard her growl in days. Oh well. She is still the cutest little lioness we have ever layed eyes on.

This picture was taken after church. She was a good little girl in the nursery! She must have known she was going to come back for the Halloween Reformation to get some candy. :)

What A Daddy's Girl!

9 Months

Today, Olivia is 9 months old!! We cannot believe she has been apart of our lives for 9 months. When I think about that concept I cannot remember not having her in our lives but on the other hand it seems like we were just coming home from the hospital with a newborn yesterday. We have learned not to take a deep breathe or blink our eyes for we might miss a whole month in her little life. What a blessing she has been to us and our families.

Olivia is still an eating champ! She nurses 4 times a day (FINALLY dropped the dream feed) and eats 3 meals a day consisting of fruits, veggies, yogurt and cereal. Her favirotes are fruit and puffs. Although, her eating habits have not helped her in the weight category. She weighs 15 pounds 4 ounces (we have friends that have 2 month olds that have passed her by 5 pounds). We think she must have a very fast metabolism.

She is a very busy and nosey little baby. Her Nano calls her a hoot owl because her head is constantly turning to watch everything that is going on around her. Maybe that's why she isn't crawling yet. She's so busy observing everything. Speaking of, we think crawling is right around the corner. She started rocking on her legs today (we know, our life is about to change). She also loves to read books, sway to music, play patty cake, watch Lilly and look at the fish tank.

I still can't believe our baby girl is growing so fast. It's almost time to start planning the first birthday party! Here's to hoping that her second year of life will pass much slower than the first!

8 Month Pictures

Olivia had 8 month pictures taken by Allison Muirhead. All of them are absolutely adorable! You can check them out at allimphoto.com. Click on order online and then click on Olivia. The password is Brooke. Enjoy!

One Big Pumpkin and One Little Pumpkin

To: Amberly, Amie, Cindy, Laura and Kim

With Love,
Olivia

Do We Have a Crawler?.....Um, Not Yet!!

I'm getting a little worried about our girl. She is almost 9 months old and no crawling in sight for her! Obviously other people are just as worried. While we were in Memphis this weekend my grandmother decided to get on all fours on the floor with Olivia to teach her a thing or two. Did it work?? No....you can tell by the picture above that Olivia just looked at her like excuse me, but why do you keep pushing on my legs like that??

I am sure she'll crawl when it is time for her to. Or maybe she will just skip that step all together. Who knows....I am sure we will eat our words once she does start moving around a little more (like many people have told us).

Welcome to the World Dalton Kaden!!

Dalton Kaden Harper arrived Wednesday, October 20th weighing 6 lb 14 oz and 20.5 inches long. Both baby and mommy are doing great. He is cute as a little button and looks just like big brother, Kai. To God be the glory for such preciuos gifts!!

Mommy's Lil Punkin

A Night In the Life of Olivia

Our little stinker LOVES bath time. Every night Hays will give her a bath. That is their time together since they don't see eachother much during the day and she goes to bed a couple of hours after Hays gets home. They have the best time playing with all the toys. Well, the other night Olivia had not taken care of her business before getting in the tub. Yep...she pooped while in the bath tub. I guess it was my first real "test" of mommyhood. I guess I passed. I didn't throw up or anything although I really wanted to. Question....why is it always the mommy duty to clean up the GROSS accidents?? Just curious.

Ribbit!

Time for bed. She usually goes to bed around 7. Hays and I have grown to be thankful for that. It gives us a nice time at the end of the day to unwind,
relax and just enjoy being together with no distractions.

Snuggeling time

(one night when Olivia decided to wake up at 11pm and visit with us for a while).

Nothing beats this smiling face in the morning.

Last Leg Of The Trip- Memphis

The last weekend of our trip was spent in Memphis. We had a family reunion (fun times), Amie's baby shower and Hays went to see Ole Miss play Saturday. It was a nice ending to a great trip.

Many of you have been praying for my sister, Amie, and her baby. She has been on bedrest for months now and is finally seeing the end. She is now 37 weeks and has shown no more signs of early labor. We are praising God for the many blessings and watching over mommy and sweet baby. We thank everyone for the unending prayers and are looking forward to meeting sweet Dalton in the next few weeks.

8 Months

Olivia had her 8 month birthday while we were on our vacation. As y'all know, we always take a picture of her on her monthly birthdays with the blocks saying how old she is. So, of course, we had to take the blocks with us and capture this special monthly birthday.

Olivia seems to be changing so much on a daily basis that I can barley keep up. I am trying so hard to store away all of her special moments in my memory. I think I have prayed over and over this month for God to please help me to always remember this moment. Time slips away before we are ever ready for it to. I know that I say this every month but she is such a joy to be around. Hays and I just smile and laugh at her all the time.

She still growls all the blessed time. I'm not sure if this child will ever begin to talk because she is always so busy growling (surely she's not the only baby in the world that does this, right???). She has not begun to crawl yet but is well on her way. She's trying to get those legs under her but just can't seem to gather the strength to do so. She is very content just sitting up and taking EVERYthing in (she is the nosiest child I know). She has started saying "da da" which pleases Hays to no end. Olivia has also started swaying or dancing to music. She still only has 2 teeth but I can tell the top ones are well on their way to making this girls life tough for a few days in the near future. I also have quickly found out that she does NOT enjoy her swing or bouncy seat any longer. I wish I could remember and write down every little detail and milestone she has overcome this month so when I am old and my memory has failed me I can pull this blog up and remember. So....here's to whatever the next month will hold for our little girl.

First Time In The Mountains...The Ozarks

The beautiful view from our cabin.

If only our backyard looked like this.

I think Hays would move to the mountains if I would agree to it.

Our cozy homestead for the week.

Getting sugars from the two that love her most.
Olivia enjoying the sunset before bedtime.
I think she likes being outdoors. What you think??


Happy as a clam in her little pack. Love it.

Loving on her daddy. This makes my heart smile. :)

Hays and his mini-me.

Our first "family as three" trip to the mountains was a success! Hays and I take a trip annually, just the two of us and it has been to the mountains (near and far) ever since we got married. We LOVE to camp, hike and just be outdoors. So...our first family vacation was going to be the mountains, no doubt. We are in hope that Olivia will find a love for the outdoors just as her parents have.

So we rented a small cabin just outside of Jasper, AR in the Ozark mountain range (more like hills if you ask me). We didn't want to go anywhere too far because we knew we would be driving to our destination considering all the baby cargo we had to tow. It was a very quiet serene little cabin with a FANTASTIC view. We mostly relaxed, took naps, hiked to waterfalls (which your faucet drips more than those waterfalls were) and caves. We had a great time just being with our girl. I think she is going to really enjoy the beautiful outdoors and we look forward to many more trips to the mountains with her.

The Beginning of Our Trip- Pig Pickin'

The first two days of our vacation were spent in Cleveland, MS at our Alma mater. Our annual trip to go down memory lane is always the weekend of Pig Pickin'. It's a great weekend filled with BBQ, football, shopping and seeing great friends. This year was a tad different from years past due to the precious cargo we had in tow. It was Olivia's first trip of many to Cleveland and her first DSU football game. She had a blast and everyone enjoyed seeing her.

It is always bitter sweet to go back to Delta State where so many memories were made. I think college is one of the few periods in my life that I would for sure revisit. If we only knew then how good we had it. No bills and no work, just play! Then I remember life now and how much sweeter it has become since those early days!

Me, Olivia and the DSU Statesman

(I think he's needing a redo with the costume, looking kinda grundgy and scary)

*Next phase of our trip coming soon- the mountains...ahhhh. Wish I was still there!

Just A Sneak Peak....

We have decided that since Olivia roars or growls like a lion that this is the costume that suits her best this year. Is this not the cutest lion you have ever seen???