The 1st {Birthday} Post!!! The 1 Year Shoot - Part 3

As a part of our party package with Mary Maldonado Photography, we also had a separate photo session!

1 - Harper had a really bad cold on her birthday (of course, right?!) so we didn't get the best smiles...
2 - Harper decided to be a very strong-willed little girly during her photo shoot! Although, it was pretty cold outside! But c'mon!!! 
So, we got a LOT more pictures than I was anticipating!!! :)

How in the world did this girl get so big?!!? What an amazing year it has been!

Where are the Burton's?!

Ok, in my previous posts I accidentally lied... I haven't gotten any better at blogging regularly or reading other blogs like I'd promised!!

I've got LOTS to write about and have been writing all kinds of things in my head all day long (do you all do that? It's methodical to me!) but I never seen to take the time to sit down, open up my computer, and type!

So...Where have the Burton's been and what have they been up to?

**Harper**
Harper turned one about 2 weeks ago.  We hadn't started her on whole milk or real food until after we met with our doctor.  Well...that has been a lot of fun! We go out to eat and order her food and she just loves it all! Believe me, we know how lucky we are! The transition to whole milk (you know, with her protein allergy) has actually been way better than anticipated! She didn't really seem to have a problem with the transition...but actually breaking the bottle habit is a little harder! More on that to come! I'm already much better about the dinners I cook every night making sure there is plenty of variety and healthier options! Her personality is just like the books say! She wants her independence and being such a good little walker/runner isn't helping with that! She can now get easily frustrated when she wants something but can't seem to communicate it.  But, thankfully she's stayed her sweet self - kissing all the time, saying thank you to just about everything, and giving lots of hugs!

**Brian**
Brian is one hard working Daddy! His job has gotten busier than ever and as of early Aug. he celebrated his one year anniversary with his new job and new title.  It's a lot more pressure and work on him than his previous job but he is doing so well and getting so good at it! So proud of how hard he works for us! He's also been able to have a few Daddy-Daughter days which have been just so cute to watch him or hear him talk about his days.  So blessed to have such a good hubby/daddy!  He also took off to have a family day with Harper and me during our Fall Break.  More on what we did to come!

**Me**
Boy oh boy! This has been probably the hardest I've ever worked at school!  I am not sure if it's the new standards we are teaching to, the ability levels I have in my class (ranging from well below grade level all the way to well above grade level), or my new POV I have since becoming a Mom (I'll explain in another post) but MAN, I am pooped by the end of each day!!!  I still constantly struggle with being a working mom, but I've come to find out you pretty much never get over that! But I can say, when I'm at work, I enjoy what I do and try to do it the best I can.  And when I get home, I find the energy to then be the best Mommy I can be for those few hours I have with my girl!  I haven't really had the time to craft, decorate, or blog lately, but I'm pretty much ok with that! The most crafts I do were for Harper's birthday and then for another fun slew of baby showers that are coming up! So fun to watch my friends be Mommy's!!!

**Marriage Time**
One main reason I haven't been blogging as much is that I want to make sure I'm giving my husband adequate time at night.  Our daughter goes to bed around 7-730 and I usually go to bed around 930, so that little bit of time between making my lunch for the next day and cleaning up and getting work things ready I really need to focus on him! Marriage is a funny thing once you have a kid, don't you agree?  The bond has become so much thicker but in the same right, it's much harder and in our case we have to be more intentional to work on making sure we are still putting each other first even when we are whipped by the end of the day!!

**Family Time**
I love this time of year! And thankfully it's been wonderful weather weekend days! We've been to different orchards around here, fairs, the Zoo, and little play places.  I truly appreciate my husband for loving to make family memories as much as me!!!  And of course, I'm LOVING all the new cute outfits I'm able to dress Harper up in even if that meant I had to shed a few tears while I was packing up her summer clothes!!! ;)

So...that's been us in a nutshell!! :) I do not promise...but I hope to get back to blogging and reading in the near future! :)

{pinch me}

I have no idea how lucky I got.

I have a fabulous husband, who happens to be a fantastic father to our most amazing little baby.

She is precious and perfect in every way.

Our conversations revolve around how much MORE we love her every day. How she has the best personality, the best outlook, the sweetest sense, and the best disposition ever.

As her first birthday draws near, I cannot help but pinch myself. My life, albeit far from perfect, is so wonderful.

Everything I imagine my little family doing this time last year while I was pregnant...we are actually doing.  Saturdays mean the world to me to spend time with my family all day.

I'm so in love. More, everyday.

HHI Family Visits!

Brian's mom and sister's family are now all officially relocated to HHI! They came in for a quick visit the other weekend!  We got to help celebrate a very special 5 year old's birthday and spend some time together!

Here's a few pics from the weekend...

hayden, lana, harper, cooper

happy #5!

Looking forward to seeing those sweet faces soon! It's so sweet all well they all played together!

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a great 4th!
We started off with breakfast with the family to celebrate hubby's birthday {my parents will be out of town on his actual day}!

Then we continued on downtown to see all the fun stuff going on! There were TONS of things to do...but even at 10:30am it was smoldering outside, so we decided to not stay very long. In fact, we had plans to take H home to nap and then head to the pool! Well...as it seems our plans go these days... H was in NO mood to nap. So after about 2 hours, I got her down to only get a 30 min. nap. Her darn top teeth are coming in and they are doing a major job on her - much more so than her bottom teeth. So, B decided to hold her for her nap, I tried to lay outside, but alas, it was still just too darn hot!

That night, we went to our friend's Alison & Nick's house for their annual 4th of July party!  It was super fun!

We had to leave before her neighborhood's big fireworks show...but I guess there's a ban on fireworks anyways due to the dryness, so it wasn't that big of a deal! :)


Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Laid Back Weekend

This weekend we had plans to take Harper to the Aquarium. I know she's going to love it so much as she loves any little fish tank we pass! But, poor Brian came down with a terrible sinus infection leaving him in bed for most of the weekend.  So what did we do? Well, Harper showed off to Dada her walking skills!

We also went to McAllister's twice for lunch! It is soo good!!  We also took Harper out on Friday night {hubby wasn't being honest just yet about how bad he felt!} with our life group to Harry's! She did pretty good, but you know, that internal clock of hers struck and by 730 she was ready to get in the tub!! :)  Thanks to our friends, they didn't mind be being in {or out I think?!} of the convo while entertaining Harper!

Harper and I also went to my parent's pool to play with the cuzzies! We love their zero water level so much!