the Easter dress

Harper wore her Easter dress to church on Sunday since this week is General Conference. It was SOOOO cute . . . until she spilled juice all over it right before we left for church. But she wore it anyway. I waited until after church to take a picture so Harper was ready for a nap and didn't want to stand still.
This dress has been in our closet for a while. I actually got it at a garage sale for $3 more than a year ago.

I also just wanted to give an update on the last post. Tom has decided he doesn't like Ezra, so I guess that leaves it to Noah or Asher and I am totally undecided. I really appreciate everyone's opinion and will take them into consideration. I have spent lots and lots of time looking at lists and blogs and making my own lists, so it is good to find out how everyone else feels. If anyone has more suggestions, we are open to them but I can't imagine at this point that we would choose something else.

A couple of people commented on Asher reminding them of the book My Name is Asher Lev. I will say, I LOVE that book but the book has nothing to do with why we are considering the name. We live in an area with a fairly large Jewish community in which Asher is not an uncommon name, so I hear it often enough that I don't really associate it with the book. One of the things that I like most about the name is the meaning, which is happy or blessed. And I just think Noah is a great name. I don't think we won't make a final decision until he is born :)

choosing a name

Tom and I have been talking about baby names recently and we have decided that we need some input. When I was pregnant with Harper, we didn't really talk much about what we were going to name her because we weren't really sure and because we didn't want any negative comments about the names we were considering. We love her name and think it is perfect for her.

But we are having a difficult time deciding on a boy's name. I am interested to see if hearing that people don't like one of the names makes me like it more, or if it doesn't affect my opinion at all.

We are pretty sure that his middle name is going to be Thomas. All of our options were on my "boy" list when I was pregnant with Harper. We have the first name narrowed down to three options:

Asher - We really like this one, but I am having trouble with how Asher and Harper sound together. I'm not sure how much the similar sound bothers me.

Ezra - I like this one more than Tom.

Noah - We like this one but it is the most popular of the three names by quite a bit.

We would love some input, positive or negative. Please help us decide!

4th Anniversary

This past Thursday we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.

March 25, 2006
March 2007
March 2008
March 2009March 2010
Work has been a little slow this week for Tom so he took a couple of days off to hang out with me and Harper. We spent a day at Ikea, took Harper to her first movie, and then spent a day in Santa Monica. We took Harper to see How to Train your Dragon and she LOVED it. She started screaming and thrashing around when we had to leave the theater.

We have had a fantastic 4 years and are looking forward to many, many more!

Trip to Bakersfield

A couple of weeks ago we went up to Bakersfield for the day. We decided to head up at the last minute because Tom's parents had two new puppies and we knew Harper would love to see them.

She did love the. We were a little worried because the dogs are so tiny and Harper hasn't really learned how to be gentle yet, but she was pretty good with them.

Here is Harper with Grandma and Ziva. Harper put this silly hat on Grandpa.And here is Tom hanging out with Tony.The puppies are adorable and just another reason why Harper loves to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

visit from family

A couple weeks ago we had a visit from my aunt and my grandparents. We had a great time showing them around LA for a few days and Harper loved all of the attention and spending time with everyone.

We went to the beach, to Beverly Hills, and celebrated Harper's birthday a little early. I failed to take pictures until Saturday, so here's what I've got.
Harper wearing Papa's hat.And opening presents.Aunt Jan treated us to some Sprinkles cupcakes (the missing cupcake was already being devoured by Harper, she couldn't wait).Harper was a big fan.And Harper's favorite thing of all, is her new bike that Aunt Jan and my grandparents got for her birthday. She LOVES it.

allergies

I am really behind on what we've been up to so I'm going to try to catch up a little this weekend.

Harper woke up the other day looking like this:
Her face was completely swollen after having an allergic reaction to . . . ? We have no idea. She had nothing unusual to eat.

On the bright side, we are starting to get her eczema under control. We had taken all of the dairy out of her diet and taken a trip to the dermatologist. Her skin was looking so good that we decided to reintroduce some milk, and the eczema came back. So we are off milk again and things are slowly improving.

Language

Harper's language skills are increasing at a furious rate. Also, she is obsessed with Finding Nemo, which she calls "fishy" - although this sounds a like more like "wishy." Randomly throughout the day she will say "fishy" over and over again in an attempt to get you to play it for her, which either happens, or you tell her that Nemo is taking a nap or has swam to another ocean. She ponders that for a second and sometimes it works.

Harper is just beginning to say more than one word sentences. This makes her a lot more fun to be around and she definitely enjoys the increased communication skills. For the most part, she still doesn't do more than one word at a time - usually it is just one word demands like "downstairs" or "thirsty." When she does put together a few words it brings about a surprisingly good feeling, even if what she is asking for usually isn't quite as great. It reminds you that you aren't dealing with a puppy and that you have a real little person in your midst. Today at the park, when Erica told Harper that it was time to go home to eat a sandwich for lunch Harper replied, NO! WANTY SNACKS! According to Erica, when they got home Harper ate the sandwich (almond butter and jelly - which is its own precious miracle).