good

one word to basically sum up the way things have been lately. been trying to think of what to name this post- new stuff, life is good, a whole bunch of things going on. but, good fits perfectly.

life has goods and bads. and the bads just suck. but they make the goods that much more good and more appreciated. like today. today was great. harper got her rest (after turning down books and songs last night in favor of just going night-night, and being happy about that choice!). she and i did not have any butting of heads the entire morning or way to school. she was happy when i picked her up. we decorated our christmas cookies that we baked yesterday, with her consuming a good portion of the crystalized sugar in between the mountains of color she added to her cookies, making a catastrophe sized mess along our way, with frosting and sprinkles and dinner remnants in between.









but she's my little helper, and she pitched in her fair share. (no, not child labor. she asked to help.)



when it was time for bath and bed, she requested a favorite song of hers- i got you babe. we cranked it up on the computer and danced to sonny and cher's ballad three times in a row. and then found a couple more songs to groove to. there was laughter and booty shaking and instruments were brought out and maximus joined in and harper called out her directions when i stopped to photograph the moment- mommy, move your body and do your fingers like this (snap them). and i had to heat up and let out and cool down and let out the bath water about 3 times, but we were just having too much fun enjoying the moment to stop.

it didn't matter that my house looks like this right now, and i have a heaping pile of laundry begging to be folded and a sinkful of dirty dishes.







what mattered was the happiness and the memory that we created tonight which is going to leave a lasting imprint in my mind, for sure. and i hope my little bean is full of dancing sugar plum fairies tonight in dreamland.

speaking of dreamland, her sleep has been fantastic-o lately! she's been going to bed between 7 and 7:30, and sunday morning, she slept in til 9:00! she hasn't done that in...forever?! she's been sleeping through the night, napping 2-3 hours when we're at home. i guess she's giving me some reprieve before we're back to waking every 2 hours for feedings when little one arrives. and if little one has a personality outside the womb anything like what he/she has been doing in, we're in trouble. this baby doesn't stop. the flipping and kicking and bouncing off the walls are quite frequent. the thumps and bumps are much more regular and pronounced recently, enough that michael has been able to feel them now. i forgot how much i enjoyed this part of pregnancy, and how exciting and surreal it is to feel all that, knowing you've got this tiny, little miracle stretching and growing right smack dab in your belly.

and here are other memories and new holiday traditions that have been created along the way in the last week. harper is finally over her illness. i visited the doctor friday after waking up with shooting pain in my ear thursday night to find out i had an ear infection. seriously, i can't remember the last time i had that. do adults get those?? but, it didn't slow me down. my craft-o-meter has been bursting lately. i'm really taking this holiday joy thing uber-seriously this year.

we've had a new friend that's been visiting us. he was revealed to us december 1st, and after reading the story and meeting him, harper so appropriately named him red. (she seems to like color names- whenever we ask her opinion about the baby's name, it's always blue or purple. or dorothy.) it's been fun to see harper's expressions every morning when she scouts out for red and then discovers what the little elf has been up to all night and where he's hiding. a common morning phrase- silly red. this little munchkin has been mischievous. taking daddy's car (probably because it's also red) joyriding to the north pole one night. unplugging mommy's computer. hiding in the baking utensil jar. he's a sneaky little fella.

we added this advent calendar to our holiday decorations, courtesy of my friend, kellie's, blog, who got it from her cousin's blog who got it from the creator's blog. i just love blog sharing.

and we changed up our thankful banner to this, my favorite message from the polar express and a suggestion from my friend, maria, who also made her christmas banner.

we attended our town's annual holiday parade with our friends blake, kellie and anna.







ok, so maybe that night wasn't all good. harper requested, complete with tears in her eyes, to go home mid-way through. i loaded her back in the wagon, and asked to take her picture. this is what i got. maybe i overdo it sometimes?



we added brussel sprouts to our list of vegetables we now like, based on a fabulous recipe shared by my friend, danielle. and while i snapped this picture, harper poured on the garlic.

so, yup, life is feeling pretty good right about now. i'm going to enjoy it.