In July we had family photos taken by Monica Parkkonen photography. Wow, that shows how far behind I am on the blog! We won the session at a silent charity auction when I was pregnant. We had such a fun time during the shoot. I love looking at these photos because Harper was so small and was still my little "Gumby." Now he has 6 teeth!
Is has been AWHILE... a long while since I have been able to sit down and blog. My life is CRAZY but crazy in a good way. The Huffman family has been going through many changes (for the better) in recent months and we feel extremely blessed for the new opportunities life has presented us with.
Over the past few months Harper has hit many milestones. He no longer crawls! He is only walking and running at this point. Oh how this changes things. The boy gets into EVERYTHING!!! And I mean everything. He is very smart and figures out how to get around the barricades mommy puts up. He can climb up onto our coffee table, open boxes, open saltine cracker packages, climb into the bathtub on his own, go up and down stairs, and open his drawers and remove everything from them. He pretty much thinks he is a man. I am not sure how many one-year-olds do these things?! I spend my days chasing him around and picking up after him.
He is the happiest baby I have ever seen. In fact, he laughs at himself and our dog Fender all day long. His laugh is contagious and I find myself laughing more now than I have in my entire life. He is an absolute trip.
I took him for his first haircut (daddy was out of town for work) and he did GREAT! He just sat there smiling and played with a comb the hairdresser gave him. I decided it was absolutely necessary to get his hair cut. His beautiful curls led many people to believe he was a little girl. How they mistake a baby boy dressed in a blue sweater with a FOOTBALL on it for a girl....I have no idea. But it happened and it happened often. And even when someone knew he was a boy they would say, "That is the prettiest boy I have ever seen. His eyes are just so pretty and look at those gorgeous eyelashes." Handsome people, the word used to describe baby boys is usually handsome. Now I have to admit I completely agree with these folks, he is a good looking baby boy but if you are not sure a child's gender, just say, "What a precious child." So now he has short hair... and people still mistake him for a girl...FIGURES!
In other news... we celebrated Harper's first birthday! My baby is officially a toddler. I get a little teary-eyed thinking about it. This past year went by WAY too fast! I will do a longer post about his birthday party but here is a sneak peek.
Harper also went on his first plane ride and his first bus ride. He made friends with all of the people around us. They seemed very impressed with his good behavior. I am sure they were all pissed when they realized they were sitting next to a baby on the flight so I am sure he was a pleasant surprise.
I have a TON of photos on my iPhone... I finally have an iPhone, what a relief. In my humble opinion, the Droid sucks compared to my iPhone. I need to stop listening to other people's opinions and go with my gut...I knew I wanted an iPhone from the get-go. I should have bought one in the first place. The Droid X was a complete fail. So back to my initial thought...I will upload those pics on my camera and share some tomorrow.
I have started to list out my current goals. Here they are:
Blog daily
Exercise at least 3 times a week
Drink water (this is going to be tough, I actually HATE water)
Take photography classes
Learn how to sew
Teach Harper the ABC's
Finish decorating Harper's new nursery
Decorate the master bedroom
Fingers crossed!! This list is pretty ambitious so we shall see. I will leave you with a video of our sweet pup Fender. Erik and Fender recently perfected this awesome trick:
Trying to decorate our new home has been rather difficult. Apparently I am incredibly picky. If I am going to spend money on something for the house I want it to be perfect. And "perfect" and my budget do NOT go hand in hand. So I am left with bare walls and empty shelves. BOO!!! But I have great news. I found an INCREDIBLE deal on Living Social... let's be honest, I am obsessed with finding a good deal. I bought photo canvases for $28! It turns your favorite photos into large wrap-around canvases. I love it because I don't have to buy frames. Erik love it because that saves him lots of mula!
The first one came in the mail today. To say I am obsessed is an understatement. I am so obsssed that I purchased another one tonight. The first one that came in is one of my favorite photos of my boys. It was so cute, when I opened the box Harper saw the rather large photo of him and daddy. He immediately started smiling and pointing at "Dada." Then I put the canvas on the floor against the wall and he went right up to it and patted Erik's face. So sweet!! Here is a picture:
I took the photo with my iPhone so you can't tell how perfect the canvas is but it is really high quality. I think I am going to put it in our bedroom or in the dining room. Now I want one for every room in the house. This was a large one, it was a little more expensive. The one I bought today was only $28. Check out the deal HERE!
I think I am going to get some made from different phases of our lives... childhood, college, our engagement, our wedding, and then Harper's baby photos. Our house is about to turn into a photo gallery. Should I get a few of my artsy photos from Europe made into canvases? I bet it is cheaper than buying prints and getting them frames. Oh the possibilities are endless.
Wilbur the Ant!! This little ant started in June of this year as a simple character on Instagram. He was then named Wilbur and the character took off. He is now a twice daily cartoon on there that is seen by my audience of 40,000+ people. He also has about 1,400 followers on his own acct of @wilburtheant. He is absolutely adorable and I know you are going to LOVE him.
The creator of Wilbur is Kewiki, one of my good friends from Nashville. We used to work together and he was always very fun and creative. He just announced that his first book starring Wilbur will be published!!! How exciting.
The book has been reviewed by a child psychologist and tested with over 100 kids ranging pre-K to 13. Everyone loves him! The reading level is 2nd grade.
This is a perfect gift for any child or adult for that matter. Please pre-order a copy and make this project a success. All pre-orders of the book will come signed and numbered by Kewiki and can include a special message to you or someone you gift the book to. If you are a teacher, there are also significant teacher's discounts you can take advantage of. Just visit www.wilburtheant.com to place your order or find out more about about the teacher's discounts.
You can "like" Wilbur the Ant's Facebook page here- http://www.facebook.com/WilburtheAnt and check out more of the daily comics. Here are a few of my favorites:
I just ordered Harper a copy of the book and we can't wait to receive it!!!
I am VERY excited about this weekend! Weecycled Wear is going to be in Greenville!
Weecycled Wear is a semi-annual children's consignment sale of new and gently used children's and maternity clothing, toys, furniture, and baby equipment. They have thousands upon thousands of items!
This is considered the "biggest and best" children's consignment sale in the Upstate! I can't wait to go. At the last consignment sale I went to I bought Harper a Radio Flyer tricycle for $6, tons of smocked outfits for less than $10 a piece, Leapfrog toys for $4! It is pretty incredible how much money you can save. I bought a ton of stuff and it was crazy how many of my items were actually brand new and still had tags on them. I got his favorite item, a Sleep Sheep, brand new in the box for 8 bucks. We already have one at home but I wanted an extra to travel with. This is a steal considering a new one at Buy Buy Baby is over $30! I remember coming home and telling Erik, "I am never going to buy Harper anything new again!!" Here are a few photos from last year's sale so you can get an idea of how BIG this sale really is:
For any expecting moms, you MUST go to this sale. I am kicking myself for going to my first consignment sale after Harper's arrival. I could have saved thousands (literally) of dollars.
The sale is at the TD Convention Center/Carolina First Center (formerly Palmetto Expo Center) in Hall 2.
Here is the address:
1 Exposition Drive
Greenville, SC 29607
Here is the schedule for the sale this week!
SUPER VOLUNTEER SALE
Wednesday, September 14th 6:00 p.m.
VOLUNTEER SALE
Wednesday, September 14th 7:00 p.m.
CONSIGNOR SALE
Thursday, September 15th 6:00 p.m.
NEW MOM & NEW GRANDPARENT SALE
Thursday, September 15th 7:00 p.m.
GUEST SALE
Thursday, September 15th 7:30 p.m.
PUBLIC SALE
Friday, September 16th 9:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 17th 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 18th 12:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. (select items will be 1/2 price)
Do any of you all consign or shop at consignment sales? What are some of your best finds? Hope to see y'all there!
I saw this on my mother-in-law's Facebook and had to share. What an incredible story and an incredible young man! Fair warning- you will cry by the end of this video. Such an inspiration and a reminder to be grateful for our many blessings.
