This time last year...

So Harper... this time last year your mother was Bella- pregnant and in love/bitten by a vampire and your dad... well your dad was the tooth fairy (no worries-pretend of course honey). We want you to always enjoy life to the fullest! Never be afraid to be silly and surround yourself with good friends and you will always be laughing!

9months old!

 Love this picture- even if she's not 9 months old in it, it shows her love for her cousin. We love you Andrew- even maybe a little too much at times! hehe. Can't wait to see your Halloween costume!

Harper had her 9month check up last week and has continued to grow and is healthy. We thank you Lord for all you have given us, especially a healthy child. Harper is 22 pounds and 30 inches long-! She is looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby. She does great at the Dr. and loves Dr. Lestz. It really is like she is in a trance because she watches every little move Dr. Lestz makes. She's always happy- EVEN when she got her first ear infection and had a fever for 3 days. Thank you GiGi for taking care of Harper so Mommy could go to work! And for the hint on how to get that pink medicine down- turns out she likes it if you don't squirt it all in her mouth at once! Slow and steady or pink gets everywhere!

Food update: Harper loves pizza, waffles, and spaghetti and meatballs! She's her mama's girl!

Getting Big!

Harper's sign that she is sleepy!

Having fun in her crib pulling herself up and standing up in her crib.

My favorite smile she does. When she is super happy she sticks that chin and two new teeth out!

Bathtime is so fun.

So much fun she doesn't like to get out and will bend her legs when you try to stand her up...

Snuggly in her towel

Laughing with Mommy

Harper has grown so much and is now pulling herself up and walking around her crib. I can't believe she's already 9 months old. Harper we love you and can't wait to celebrate your first birthday in a few months.

2 more videos

Here are some more videos of Harper discovering new foods and new playmates!

Yogurt Fun

Playing With Jackson

Video Updates

Success! Harper- your mommy is so smart. She finally figured out how to do the videos on the blog again! Here are two videos and I"ll post two more tomorrow night since they take forever to load. Harper has learned to do many new things. It's so much fun raising her!
Kissing Andrew

Jumping Bean

School Fun

Harper has no problem getting up early for school as long as she's had her 11 1/2 hours of sleep! Man, that girl can sleep and I love her for that.

The first day back last week was awesome! From the moment in the parking lot when Harper heard an older child talking she was excited to get into school. She was squealing and pushing me away to go play. My feelings aren't hurt- I'm so thankful for a baby that is independent and wants to discover new things. I took this picture her first day when I dropped her off. She's with Mrs. Rose, her friends, and Mrs. Autumn.

Her best friend in her class is Cohen. Cohen's mommy works with me and they even got to see each other over the summer. They love playing together and it makes me feel even better knowing she's got a friend in her room.

This is the little table where they eat at. We love Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Autumn. Harper hasn't taken full naps yet, but her teachers and I are positive she will soon. She's just too excited to be at school! I have students on Monday and this year I already have a whopping 23 on my class list. Please help pray for patience and that I have enough room in my classroom!

Summer's coming to an end- sniff sniff!

Harper is 7 1/2 months! :)
She is eating fruits, veggies, rice cereal, and now chicken. She loves green veggies and her mum mum snacks. It's funny to see her trying new foods. She is very patient when eating and eats her dinner with the family like a big girl.

Harper has always loved her playtime mat. Well, she didn't exactly like tummy time, but as soon as she could flip herself over she enjoyed her mat even more.

Harper is trying to crawl. She can push herself up and then she rocks back and forth.

On August 10th mommy realized fast that Harper did not feel good. Harper is never fussy and never had more than a cold, but that day she was uncomfortable because... of her new TOOTH! Mommy felt her new tooth at lunchtime and was so excited. Mommy was so happy! Her tooth feels like a fish's tooth. It's hard to see, but you sure can feel it and see the white poking through. The next two pictures are Harper's tooth smiles.


Much has changed over the summer. Harper can: sit by herself, roll forwards and backwards, eat solid food, give kisses, pick up objects easier, have a fun time in her jumper, play in the nursery at church, play in her play yard, and is trying to pull herself up whenever given the chance. Harper loves: mommy, daddy, Jackson, all her family, Elmo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, her jumper, green veggies, being tickled, singing with mommy, cuddling with daddy, playing with cousin Andrew, taking baths, swimming, and going on vacation.

These past 7 months have flown by and I'm so blessed to have such a sweet baby. She enjoyed being at preschool at the end of last year and I'm so thankful for CDA and her teachers. As the school year starts I'm praying for a kind heart, patience, wisdom, and to be efficient and hard working at school so I can hurry home to love on my baby! We love you Harper Anamarie Sims. I didn't think it was possible to love you more than the day you were born- but our love for you grows and grows young lady!

First Big Trip!

We flew to Connecticut this summer for a family reunion and boy was it an ordeal to get there! We tried to fly standby with Elizabeth's passes, but no such luck- we sat all day in an airport, then went home defeated. My mom and dad offered their Southwest passes to get us there the next day and we decided to do that so we wouldn't miss out. After two days of airports and three flights (7 hours later) we arrived in CT! Harper's first plane ride was a long one, but she did really well.

It was 10o'clock when we got to CT, but Harper still was awake and had fun playing with the interactive art in the airport.

Reunion time! The next day was the Satagaj family reunion. The last time I came to the reunion I was with my Pop- 5 years ago. Coming back here just feels good. The Satagaj family is a loud Polish family with good food and good laughs. It was even more fun because the whole "Texas Crew" was there- our whole family.

This is my Aunt Ann and Uncle Teddy's house- built in the 1700's! Joe and Maggie's house is in the background. The reunion is held outside on the land in between their houses.

Harper was so happy all day outside- despite her midnight bedtime the night before.

"My Two Dads"- Steve and Brett were really hands on with Andrew and Harper- and all the baby stuff you have to carry around!

But... as you can see- Brett still had time to play with the kiddos.

Casino Time- yes we had babies in a casino and we weren't "those people"... the way the casino is set up makes it kid friendly with a mall inside to walk around in.

Nana and Pop with their grand kids. They made Elizabeth and I go gamble while they walked the babies around the mall! I found a new slot game I love!

Playing slots was so fun- it didn't really matter that we were mostly losing. We just wanted "Jaws" to come out.

Mystic Aquarium Fun- Harper loves the ocean as much as we do!




It was fun to take H to Mystic Beach and let her put her toes in!



Last stop on the trip was a CT winery. Although it was closed, we ate our lunch outside and enjoyed the view. Then we enjoyed a free bottle of wine that the owner brought us!

I'm really thankful we got to go on this trip and spend time with our family, extended family, and family we don't see that often. I took a few pictures, but Aunt Kim and Aunt Elizabeth were great at snapping! Thanks guys!