Happy Chanukah!

Around the Harper home, we have Christmas Trees and Hanukah Menorahs. Between all the flames, glitter and bulbs Noah walks around the house saying "sooo maneee lights" (so many lights). So sweet! So fun!

Snow Day in the Big Apple!

We made a last minute decision to fly to NY last weekend. Noah and I stayed with Aunt Elana & Super Hero Craig, while Daddy had to stay home to work. Another first that Aunt Elana got to see this weekend was Noah's first experience with snow. I let Elana and Craig dive into this one, since I am NOT a fan of the cold. I stood back and snapped some pictures than headed back inside. I have to admit it was certainly beautiful, but not enough to convince me to move back up north. Noah enjoyed every minute, some highlights were brushing the snow off the patio furniture, throwing handfulls of snow up in the air and watching it come down and of course a Noah favorite...eating the snow. Other highlights from the visit were "Dance Party" Noah style to some "Earth, Wind & Fire". Although we wish the visit was under different circumstance Noah got to spend a lot of QT with his Aunt Elana, hang out with Aunt Stacy and baby Charlie and meet some of Mommy's friends for the 1st time.

Controlled Chaos!

Last Friday we had a house full of moms and kiddos over to make some homemade Holiday Gifts. What fun and what a mess. I don't think Noah has had more than 3 friends over at a time since his 1st Birthday Party. He was not to pleased with all the kids playing with his toys and moving his toys around. Noah is a lot like Mommy, everything has a place, everything in its place. Needless to say he was stuggling to share while being very overstimulated. But we would do it again tom'w. I didn't get very many pictures and got none of Noah! Here is one of Noah's buddies helping in the kitchen!

I Love my Aunt Elana!

If you know Elana, than you know that she loves her nephew and goes above and beyond to take care of him, visit him, spoil him and love on him! So fun!! And yes as you can see in the pictures our tree is up.....

About.com: http://www.macys.com/campaign/pinkpig/index.jsp

About.com: http://www.macys.com/campaign/pinkpig/index.jsp

Black Friday...

It is not a secret that I am not a fan of shopping, so why would I ever load up my family the day after Thanksgiving for an outing to Lenox Mall, certainly not to shop.
Our goal was to take Noah to the "Pink Pig" (link above) get in and out and not even enter the mall. Mission accomplished! It took a minute to find a parking spot, but nothing like expected. We walked right up to the tent and immediately boarded the "Pink Pig". Noah sat with Grammy while Mommy took pictures and the rest of the family waved from the sidelines. Noah didn't seem to care at all that he was on a ride and surrounded by Christmas Trees. He tends to need sometime to warm-up especially in situations that even for an adult are over-stimulating. This was certainly true today. It wasn't until we got to the car that Noah started saying "Pink pig, pink pig, Pink pig". You get an "I rode the Pink pig" sticker that seemed to be the biggest thrill of the day as Noah wore it, then held it and added stickur (sticker) to his chant for the day.
And except for a quick restroom run we didn't even enter the Mall!

Thankgiving 2007

This year Thanksgiving was hosted at the Harper's. We are so grateful to have our families with us. We enjoyed good food and great company. Grammy, Aunt Elana, Grandma, Pop pop, Uncle Ray and cousin Phillip all joined us. Noah loved saying every one's name over and over as he went around the table naming our guests. Phillip (Daddy) said it was "weird" to hear Noah using his name this weekend as he addressed his cousin Phillip.

Noah's vocabulary has been expanding by the minute. Last week he was putting 2 to 3 word sentences together like, "Mommy please help", "more drink please" Read another book". This week his vocabulary has sky rocketed. Thanksgiving Dinner Noah (enjoying his Mommy's cooking) said "Mommy, Daddy may I please have more sweet potatoes please?" That is a 10 word sentence. Since Thursday the sentences continue, normally around something he wants. Some examples from this week "Daddy may I please listen to my CD please", "Mommy may I please have a taste please?" (referring to Mommy's ice cream cone after he had finished his). Yes, Noah uses the word please twice in his sentences. He truly seems to get sweeter and sweeter each day.

This week makes for a total of 4 times that Noah has gone Pee pee in the potty. There is still really no rhyme to our reason. When he asks to go potty and before and after nap, Noah gets a few books and sits and reads and sits and sits and sits. It seems that if we let him sit long enough eventually he goes. We have been celebrating with "A Potty Party" which includes tons of praise, high 5's, clapping, hugging and kisses. Noah seems to respond extremely well as he has always shown a desire to please.

I am so grateful and thankful to have been surrounded by our family this Thanksgiving and for the joy that Noah has brought into our lives these past 21 months. I continue to be reminded of how much I have and have been challenged to become more thankful and live a life that reflects how thankful I am, not just during this season but everyday.
Happy Thanksgiving!!