Baby's First Ice Cream

Every time we go to Charleston we make a trip to our favorite local restaurant, Five Loaves. On this trip Uncle travis joined us for dinner. It was incredible, as always! Erik bought me a gorgeous original painting for my early birthday gift. I turned the big 2-6 on June 30th. Here are a few photos from dinner:

We went to our favorite little ice cream shop on Sullivan's Island. Our original intention was for me and Erik to grab an ice cream cone. Harper kept starring at our treats and we decided to let him have a bite. When he took his first bite of ice cream his facial expression was priceless. To say he enjoyed it is an understatement. When we took it away from him, he was not a happy camper.

Harper's First Dip in the Ocean

I think we have over 300 photos from our Charleston trip. Sometimes I am a little picture happy. I want to capture every cute thing Harper does. And the child is so darn cute that I tend to continuously take photos. I think I am going to break down the trip in separate blog posts. (Yes, we went on the trip a month ago...i'm a little late.) We enjoyed so many people and places that I would love to share it all. Today's post is Harper's first time in the ocean:

Walking down to the beach at Sullivan's Island

Checking out his toes hitting the water for the first time.

Taking a dip in the water with daddy. 

(Erik is all dressed up because the just wrapped up a photo shoot.) 

Stealing kisses from my sweet baby.

A little airplane action. 

Harper LOVES Charleston! 

Sale, Sale, Sale!

My friend Lucy introduced me to this amazing website Zulily! I love it! It's a new online store offering daily sales events on top-quality apparel, gear and other goodies for moms, babies and kids. They carry the best brands at the lowest prices.  Members enjoy savings of up to 90% off retail prices.You never know exactly what you'll find—the brands they offer change every day. It's like finding a treasure chest full of cute stuff. Membership is free and I know you'll love it too. The prices are sometimes cheaper than wholesale. They carry everything from maternity clothes, baby and children's clothing, toys, strollers, baby accessories, school supplies... you name it they have it!

It's like a ticket to an amazing sample sale. Only members can take advantage of zulily's low prices. Membership is free and you can signup HERE!

AND USE COUPON CODE FAMILY10 TO GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER.

I bought an adorable outfit for one of Harper's birthday presents this morning. I can't wait to get it. Here are a few cute things I came across today:

Under the Back to School boutique I saw this adorable Preppy Plates Milbank Green Personalized Tumbler only $22.99!

They had several family calendars that are so cute! I love this yellow one. Only $16.99 (originally $32.00)

Absolutely adorable Christmas outfit for a little girl!  Only $10.99! And they have it in all different letters. 

Cutest smocked Halloween outfit. I bought this one for Harper. I can't wait to see him in it! Only $36.99!

Cutest outfit for a Carolina tailgate!! It is only $11.99 on Zulily!

A Few More Beach Pics!

Today was a great day! Harper and I met the Boland triplets. They are so freaking cute!! And they all have the sweetest personalities. It is so fun to watch them interact with each other and with Harper. I think Harper really enjoyed having another baby boy to play with. He and Charlie crawled after each other and played with the toys together. Of course I took a ton of photos but I haven't had a chance to upload them yet. I will try to get them up tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are a few more of Josh Norris' photos from Harper's first beach trip:

 

Beyond Blessed

I'm sitting here looking at the most beautiful photos I have ever seen. They are a wonderful reminder of how very blessed I am. I am blessed to have such a sweet, smart, and loving husband. I am blessed to have such a beautiful and healthy baby boy. I am blessed to have met such an incredible photographer who went way out of his way to give us these photos. (A huge thanks to Josh Norris for capturing these precious moments!)

"The LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." -Numbers 6:24-26

One of my MANY favorites:

Fireworks and "Firsts"

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We spent the day with our entire family at Lake Bowen. The Elmore Family throws a phenomenal party every year and it has become a very fun tradition. 

On the 4th, Harper said his first word! He said "Da-da." And now that is all he says all day long. It is adorable. You can tell he is very proud of himself. He also learned how to give high-fives. He caught on very fast. Now we are working on getting him to touch his nose... o the little things! 

Here are a few photos from the day. Unfortunately my camera died... but I managed to snap a few:

My sweet boys!

Gorgeous lake house!

He loves to swim! And he especially loves to dunk his head under the water.

My sweet water baby!

Karaoke...typical!

Like Father, Like Son

A few weeks ago we made our way to Charleston for the weekend. Unfortunately with our busy lives we rarely have time to take a vacation. The trip was work related but we managed to really enjoy ourselves. Erik and Harper were asked to do a photo shoot together for our favorite clothing company. We couldn't refuse the sweet offer... I mean who doesn't want incredible pictures taken of their boys!? 

One extremely hot and sunny day we headed to Sullivan's Island and Harper participated in his first ever professional photo shoot. Josh Norris was the photographer and to say his photos were insanely gorgeous is an understatement. I actually teared up when he showed me some of the pictures. We don't have copies of any of the images yet but as soon as we do I will make sure to share some with y'all! If anyone in the Upstate is looking for a fantastic photographer make sure to check out Josh's website!

I have to admit, I was the overly zealous mother cheering in the background. I was so proud of my sweet boy. He was a total natural and giggled and smiled for the entire photo shoot. I can already start to feel the pride a mother feels for their children. There is nothing quite like it! 

And Erik was absolutely thrilled to get to do a photo shoot with his son. I wanted to share his reaction with you:

"When I model, I mostly work with people I've never met before.  It can be fun, but it's never completely comfortable or "normal."  Recently I got to do a photo shoot with my 9 month-old son. We had such a great time.  Not only was it so easy (it was like we were just hanging out on the beach), but I must admit I was very impressed with Harper.  We stood in the 95 degree heat for over an hour, and he didn't fuss.  He just smiled for the camera and acted so pleasant. He was a natural, I didn't even have to coach him.. haha.  Maybe it's in the genes :) This shoot was a great experience, and I hope that Harper and I can do it again in the future.. I have a feeling we will."

Here are some photos I took from the sidelines: 

U-S-C Go Cocks!

Gamecock sports are on the rise. When I was in school we struggled a bit. But now we are two-time National Champs!! Thank goodness for the USC baseball team. 

I am VERY ready for football season. We had a great recruitment class. I am can't wait to see Marcus Lattimore school his opponents once again. Alshon Jeffery is the best receiver in the SEC. And Jadeveon Clowney looks like a beast. He has so much potential, I am excited to see how he performs.

Today the Southeastern Conference office announced nine University of South Carolina football players were named to the 2001 Coaches Preseason All-SEC teams.  Running back Marcus Lattimore, junior wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, junior defensive end Devin Taylor and junior defensive back Stephon Gilmore earned first-team recognition. Second-team selections include South Carolina senior quarterback Stephen Garcia, senior offensive lineman Rokevious Watkins and senior defensive end Melvin Ingram. Gamecock senior offensive lineman Kyle Nunn and senior defensive tackle Travian Robertson were named to the third team unit.

Sweet Mimi bought Harper the cutest tailgate outfit. We can't wait to take him to his first Carolina game.

Are you looking forward to football season? What team do you pull for? 

Why Don't Friends With Kids Have Time?

I saw this on my friend Darci's Facebook page and I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Amen.

Wipe Out!

The last two months have been fantastic!! Life is crazy, as always, but our first summer with Mister Harper has been a blast. Harper changes by the day. We continue to celebrate and experience more "firsts" in his life. I am constantly reminded about all the blessings in my life. 

On June 15th we took Harper to the pool for the first time. Our neighborhood has a gorgeous outdoor pool. It opened in May but we have been so busy that we hadn't had a chance to make it there until now. We already knew that Harper's favorite time of the day is bath time. I had a strong inkling that he would love the pool. Boy was I right. Harper is a total water baby. He had no fear whatsoever. He giggled as soon as Erik carried him down the steps into the water. He splashed around and tried to dunk his face under the water on several occasions. We bought a floaty for him from Target and it worked out great. It protected his face from the sun and made it very easy for us to cruise him around the pool.

By the end of the day Harper was exhausted. He passed out while Erik fed him his bottle. Our trip to the pool was a success and we look forward to spending many more summer afternoons swimming together.