Happy Halloween!

 Our church had a big fall festival tonight for our town. It was a great place to take the kids - they had all kinds of blow up houses and games. We took our little lady bug for her first taste of Halloween fun!

She was overwhelmed with all the excitement!

 We saw almost all of Harper's little friends.  This is baby Davis!

 One of my favorite families and their precious superheros!

 Sweet Neely

 Harper rode a pony. I wasn't sure how she would do but she loved it! She loves animals!

 I love this little princess so much!

Laurie and I and our FOUR (almost) girls! We are soooooooo blessed! This picture just makes me smile because there were years when Laurie and I would lay around and wonder if we would ever get married and dream about our husbands and families to be. I love that we now have four girls between us! God is good!


We are reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan in our Sunday School class and today we were talking about how short life is and how we should live it for what is important. One of my friends pointed out that she so often doesn't live in the moment but constantly is looking forward to the next thing in life.  I feel the same way.  I pray that I savor every sweet moment the God has blessed me with and not just look forward to what is ahead. That I pray each day that He show me His will for me THAT DAY!

Mugs and Muffins

If you live in my area - I want to invite you to something that I know is going to be amazing. Our church's women's ministry is having "Mugs and Muffins" next Saturday (the 6th) morning from 9 - 10:30. We meet in our family life center for muffins and coffee/juice and then we will head to the sanctuary and our speaker is Becky Patterson.
Becky works for FCA and you may know she recently lost her only child, Micayla, in a car accident. She has survived both breast and cervical cancer and has an amazing testimony and passion for Christ - even through the hardest of circumstances. I am so excited about how the Lord is going to use her to speak to us!
I would love for anyone in NWA to come and join us! It's at FBC Bentonville!
If you have any questions - please feel free to ask me!!! Hope to see you there!

A good name is better than great riches

Thank you for your sweet comments on our new baby girl!!! We are thrilled! And Scott really is excited. I think he's just picturing lots of giggling teenage girls and calculating wedding costs. ha! Harper has him so wrapped around her little finger - he will be so in love with Hollis too! I love watching him with Harper! He's so sweet to her! We are counting our blessings and thanking God over and over for the amazing family He has given us!

Since pretty much 75% of you asked me about Hollis' name - I thought I better write about it.

Most of you know we had picked out our boy and girl names before we were married and we put thought into them or they had special meanings. Our boy name was (is?) Hudson Walker. Hudson is Scott's mother's maiden name and Walker was my pap-pa's middle name. Harper is just a name I have always loved - (can you tell what my favorite book was growing up?) and Lee is my middle name and was also my mam-ma's name but since I didn't want to name her Harper Lee - we went with Brown which was my mam-ma's maiden name.

So because I love alliteration in families - I wanted another H name for our little girl. And because I have SOOOOOOOOOO many things monogrammed with either an H or HBS for Harper - I wanted to re-use all that so the new baby had to have that monogram. If you can't tell - I like names to be a little different and I also like them to have a Southern feel. I like last names for first names. I have never known anyone with the name Hollis. I read it somewhere and just loved it. I had a list of probably 10 H names and Scott did not like any of them but Hollis so that's the name we picked. It's the one I loved best also!

I also had about 10 B names for the middle name and had a hard time deciding. My mom suggested Barrett and I just loved it! It's different and pretty and I just wanted her to have a unique, special name!

So that's the story! :-)

I should add that we plan to call her Hollis. I don't want her to be nicknamed "holli". I'm sure she'll have some kind of nickname though. Who doesn't? ha!

****SCROLL DOWN TO TOUR LOTS OF FUN GUEST ROOMS!!!!***************

Show Us Your Life - Guest Rooms

Today is Guest Rooms and this is the last time anyone will be seeing my guest room because it's about to be changed into Hollis' room.  I have a LOT of work to do! :-)  This also leaves the grandparents wondering where they are going to sleep when they come to town. ha! What do you do when you don't have a guest room and the grandparents come? Any suggestions?

There isn't a whole lot going on in this room. It's just warm colors of gold and brown. This bed is usually also home to my laundry collection. I pile it all here until I can get the energy to fold it and put it away which can sometimes be days. (So I just keep the door shut a lot. ha!)

I love the picture of Harper as a baby that's over the bed!

The closet in here is packed full with all sorts of miscellaneous stuff. This is going to be a major project to get it cleaned out and ready for baby. I'm not looking forward to that. ha! I'm looking forward to fixing up a nursery - just not cleaning it out!

I know a lot of you may not have guest rooms but if you do - let's see them!!!!

It's A................................

I am going to have a..................

Little..................................

SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(HA! I couldn't resist this picture)

The baby looks healthy and we are thrilled and BEYOND thankful!

I always wanted a sister so I'm so glad Harper will get to have one close to her age! 

and her name is........

HOLLIS BARRETT

Pray for Scott - he is a little stressed about living with three girls! :-)

Big Day!

 I had to show ya'll Harper's cute Halloween outfit. She got this from a little Harper who is older than her who has a very talented momma who sews! She passed a lot of cute outfits down to us! I'm soooo thankful!

 Look at the back!

She loves Elmo!

Tomorrow is a BIG day for our family! In the morning we will find out boy or girl!!! We don't care one bit either way - we will be SO excited no matter what! It's just such a big day to find out if our family will be all girls or one of each! I can imagine it both ways and know that we will be so blessed no matter what. I'm sort of thinking it's a boy but I could be surprised! I will FOR SURE post and let ya'll know by tomorrow afternoon! We are taking Harper so she can find out with us! 

More than anything I'm so nervous to find out if the baby is okay or not. I trust God completely and we know that whether the baby is healthy or whether it may have problems - He has already gone before us and has a plan and has prepared us but I'm still just a bundle of nerves waiting to see. 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.  Jeremiah 1:5

MOPS and friends

I am facing my fears over the next few weeks. I am taking a leap and doing some things WAY out of my comfort zone - I'm speaking at two MOPS groups and the dancing with the NW AR stars. All of these things make me want to throw up and instantly I start sweating.

This morning I spoke at a MOPS group. It went better than I expected. The girls there were very sweet and friendly and I enjoyed meeting them all! As much as I hate speaking - I know God has opened doors with me to share about Him and so I have to do it.

I was so touched because a mom came and she is someone I asked for prayer for a few months ago. She lost her little girl, Leightyn, to a brain tumor very suddenly. Her loss just broke my heart and I have thought about her and prayed for her so often. I was SO honored that she came and that I could meet her. I just cried when she told me who she was. Her family has been such a witness in such a terrible trial.

Kristen is the girl who invited me to come talk today. She went to OBU but at a different time than me and we have a few mutual friends. She was so sweet!

And this is Britney - she cracked me up! She reads my blog and I think she knew more about me than I know about myself! She asked fun questions and it was fun to meet her!

This afternoon I kept my friend Amanda's little girl Neely.  We had a lot of fun. Harper hasn't slept AT ALL in the last two nights so she was in a terrible mood. But she and Neely had fun eating a snack, playing with playdough and puzzles, running around outside ....................

and of course dressing up! This makes my heart so happy! :-)

I was so sad because Harper got asked to model some cute razorback clothes for a new website for a local TV station tonight but I had to cancel. She was just exhausted and cranky and I knew it was not going to work. I've learned with a toddler - you just have to learn to go with the flow and no when you have to say no.
The website has cute stuff for all kinds of schools - you'll have to check it out even though Harper didn't get to make the photo shoot!  http://www.passionatelyrivalicious.com/

19 weeks

I'm 19 weeks! (almost half way there!)

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby H is the size of an apple!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 5 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Just bought a couple of pair of maternity jeans and I am LOVING them!

Gender: Can't wait to find out! 3 more days!!!! I'm dying to know!

Movement: I've been feeling the baby a lot more lately!

Sleep: I'm so tired - that I sleep pretty good!

What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach?

Cravings: Salty foods

Symptons: Right now just tiredness, the metallic taste in my mouth and a little bit of heartburn

Best Moment this week: Just being so thankful for this baby!

19 weeks with Harper and baby #2

And Happy 8th Birthday to our very first baby Dawson!

Dawson - you are the sweetest dog - I just love you to death! You have been so good with Harper and she is CRAZY about you. She kisses you constantly and says "Dawson" all day long. I know you won't be thrilled that we are adding ANOTHER baby to the family but I bet you will all be friends before long!

Go Hogs - beat the "Black Bears"

It's a rainy, gloomy fall day and Scott and I gave our Razorback tickets to some friends and are staying home and enjoying a good day to watch football. We are playing Ole Miss right now. I'm hoping for a win!

Remember when I said Harper was past the stage of throwing fits? Well - I could not have been more wrong. She has been throwing the MOTHER of all fits this morning. Oh my! I wanted to take some pictures of her dressed up for game day but you can probably tell she has been crying and it was either pictures with her paci in or no pictures at all. Or meltdown pictures! ha! And just so I don't get any more comments or questions - Harper will not go to kindergarden with her paci and she for SURE won't have it when she goes to prom - but up until then - we'll worry about when to take it away. I just didn't want y'all to have to keep wondering. :-)

Isn't this the cutest? I got the shirt and pettiskirt from my friend Stephanie at www.ifyousaysewgifts.com. She makes the cutest personalized shirts in a HUGE variety of designs and all kinds of other cute things!

I'm sad I didn't take any pictures but my parents spent the night last night so they could go to the game this morning and we all went out to eat. It was the first time we have taken Harper to a restaurant in probably 6 months. Lucikly I decided to take our portable DVD player and it was like MAGIC! She was SO good and we got to enjoy a good meal. Maybe we can venture out again! At least until the next baby comes...............

Mom and I did get to meet up with an Arkansas blogger, Melissa, who was up for the game with her family! She blogs at www.afamiliarpath.com and is an amazing photographer! (This isn't very helpful - but my shirt came from T J maxx!)

P.S. Can I just add how much I LOVE the encouragement of you moms with older children who encourage us with babies? (I started to say "older moms" - but I'm an older mom - just in a different stage) ha! It is a HUGE blessing to me! Thank you!

Show Us your life - Nurseries and Kids Rooms

So I'm excited about this week because I think Children's rooms are so much fun!!! It's the one room in the house where if you are a conservative decorator - you can let loose and have fun and use color. (or at least - that's how I feel). And also starting next week I'll be planning a new nursery so I'd love to see ideas!
If you don't have children - but would love to have some one day - it would be great if you wanted to just post your ideas for a dream nursery. If you are like me - I had nurseries planned in my head for years. I'd love to see your ideas!!! Or you can skip and just enjoy the tour and join back up next week.

This is Harper's room:
(These are old pictures. She is in bed and I didn't have a way to take new pictures - but it's mostly the same - her crib is just lowered and the bumpers are out now)

This is her room looking in from the hallway. It is an explosion of pink and brown with a little green mixed in and I love it.
I had this sign made by Kim and I hope it will stay in her room until she leaves for college. I just adore it! It matches her bedding exactly.
A little table I have set up. I really need to work on printing out pictures of Harper to put in frames. That is on my short term to do list.
Laurie got me this sign for my birthday before I ever became pregnant with Harper. I gave a special request for this verse as we struggled with infertility because I knew in my heart that it would be hanging in our baby's room soon!

This is a day bed we have in the nursery. It is going to move to the new nursery soon and we are getting Harper a play kitchen for Christmas to go in here and we want her to have more room to play!

The painting above the bed was made by my lifelong friend Jamie. I told her before we ever got pregnant - that when I did - I wanted her to paint something. I love it so much. We call Harper our "baby Monkey" and this verse is my life verse for her. (and for me). It gave me hope during infertility and it especially gave me hope as the doctors told me she might not live in her first few days. I love the fact that Jamie added a real life bow on the monkey's head.
I had Harper's bedding made at Polka Tot designs. I was worried before it came that I might have been nuts and I might not like it but when I finally got it - I just skipped around because it was exactly what I wanted. I want her to stay little forever and keep this bedding forever.
Another view of her crib. We got the crib at Wal-Mart.com and we really like it. And we have the her little doll from Baby Be Blessed in there!
A sweet blogger friend, Keri, made me this bag before Harper was born and I have it hanging on her closet door. I think it's too cute to use. The other side has her monogram. PRECIOUS!
My dad made me this chest of drawers to use as a changing table/dresser. I'm so proud of it. I'm amazed at how he can build something like this. Harper will use this in her room forever and then pass it on down to her daughter I hope. It used to be Harper's changing table and recently I put a lamp and just some knick knacks on top and we use it as a dresser.

This is a bad picture but I had this frame and I painted a mat to go with it and framed Harper's 6 week, 12 week, 20 week and 3D ultrasound pictures and then a picture of her when she first came home in the center. I wanted something special to do with her ultrasound pictures.

This is hanging on one of her walls - I love it!

Some of her bows hanging on her bow holders - her bow holders are now CRAMMED full of bows. This was before she really wore bows in her head (without headbands).

This is her closet and yes it is ridiculous. This was when she was a tiny baby - it's worse now. I can't help it - girls are fun!

I have already pretty much decided that for the new baby - whether it's a girl or boy - I want to do something just kind of calm and serene. I love the pink and brown I did in Harper's room - but I think I'm going to leave the new nursery walls a light khaki color and maybe do a light blue and brown with gold accents. I'll add girly touches if it's a girl and make it a little more boyish for boys. Something kind of like the bedding below. I have it planned in my head if I don't change my mind.

That's the tour folks. Now let's see those kid's rooms!!!

H-A-R-P-E-R

I think she's really smart. But I'm not that mom who thinks my child is a genius. I'm the one who worried when it took her a while to talk. But she has started spelling her name. Not perfect - but she can do it.
I told ya'll putting her name on everything that will sit still long enough would pay off! :-) Monogramming has it's purpose! :-)

One week from today and our new baby will have a name and I can start monogramming everything under the sun for him or her!

18 weeks

I'm 18 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a sweet potato!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 4 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Just bought a couple of pair of maternity jeans and I am LOVING them!

Gender: Can't wait to find out! 8 more days!!!! I'm dying to know!

Movement: I've been feeling the baby a lot more lately!

Sleep: I'm so tired - that I sleep pretty good!

What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach?

Cravings: Salty foods

Symptons: Right now just tiredness, the metallic taste in my mouth and a little bit of heartburn

Best Moment this week: Spending a week at the beach! Feeling the baby while we were there!

 

I thought Harper looked so cute this morning in her little pumpkin outfit that I had to take a few pictures! 

I can't get enough of these peter pan collared blouses under things. If I could pull it off for myself I would. I think it just looks adorable on little girls!

 

I think she just saw a ghost in this one! 

The poor thing fell at school this morning and either bruised or broke her nose. She hasn't cried at all and acts fine but it looks awful. I've been warned she may have two black eyes tomorrow. I'm glad I took pictures this morning. ha! There is never a dull moment around her with this little active girl!

A year ago - she wore this as a dress and it was too big. She has changed SO much since last fall. I can't imagine how she will look or act by next fall! I'll have two pumpkins to dress up by then!

And this is the last week I'll be asking you to go and leave comments HERE on teens and texting (on behalf of LG and BlogHer). This week's topic is the Dangers of Sexting. (yikes - don't want to think about that).  But it would be great if you would comment because every time you do - $0.50 gets donated to dosomethingnow.org