South Africa!!!!!!!

About a month ago, Craig said that he might have to go to South Africa for work.  I responded with, "If you're going, I'm going!"  Sure enough they needed him to go so after going back and forth over all the pros and cons, I decided to bite the bullet and go as well - and I'm SO GLAD I did!!  It was definitely hard to leave the girls...especially Harper since she's still so itty bitty.  My other concern was the flight.  I'm not much of a flyer, don't really like to do it in general so the thought of a 26 hour plane ride ALONE was a pretty scary thought for me.  I'm glad I faced my fear though and went because we had such a GREAT time.  We stayed at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town.  It was a great hotel with lots of charm.  Craig was there to work (obviously!) so a couple of the days I spent by myself.  One day I went to the Librisa Spa in our hotel and got a massage and pedicure.  The other day, I went to the V&A Waterfront to shop and eat lunch outside by the water.  I know...it was tough!  :)  Two of the days, I went with Craig to where they were shooting the commercial and that was fun as well.  It's pretty neat to see what some of Craig's work entails.  He ended up having 2 free days so we used those days to do some more 'touristy' stuff.  One day we went up to Table Mountain but of course it was the only cloudy day of the week so our visibility from the top wasn't that great.  Another day, we took a trip out to Cape Point - that's the southern most tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.  South Africa is such a beautiful place and Craig and I had such a fabulous time!  I hope you get to make a trip to South Africa someday as well!

Update continued...

Here are some pics from our time with my family...

GG and Harper

Eli...1o months old

Harper and Nana

Amber and Sydney

While we were at the lake with Craig's family, one of his cousins (Kimberlee) was proposed to. It was sooo fun...I love proposals. Thomas, Kimberlee, Kimberlee's parents and others went out on a boat ride. While they were on the lake, the rest of us hung up this giant sign with Thomas' proposal. Craig and I were on the wave runner videoing the actual proposal and her reaction so I don't have still pictures of that part. BUT...she said yes! Congrats to Kimberlee and Thomas! Here are some pics!

Hanging the sign

The happy couple!

An update!

Wow...where do I even start?!! First off, to those that don't already know, I quit my job a few weeks ago so I'm officially a stay at home mom!! It was hard to break the news to my boss because she is so great, but we know this is the best decision for our family. I am just loving being home with the girls and watching them grow and interact. I also took on a part-time job at our church working the Mother's Day Out program called CLC. I help teach a 2.5 year old class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-2pm. Sydney and Harper both attend CLC so it's good for them and good for me! Here's Sydney on the first day of school with her Minnie Mouse lunch box. She's always got that goofy "Cheese!" grin!


We started a new tradition a few weeks ago - Family Movie Night every Sunday evening. It's soooo fun!! We moved the coffee table out of the way, laid down some blankets and pillows popped some popcorn and even had special candy treats. Sydney LOVES it!! The first time we watched Cars and the second time we watched A Bug's Life. Sydney picks the movie (after us narrowing down her choices...or we'd be there all night)! Here are some pics from our first movie night. (excuse the naked baby...she spits up on everything so we are constantly changing her clothes!)

Harper is growing up so quickly! She is now rolling from her belly to her back, sleeping 12 hours at night (woot woot!), grabbing toys, smiling and cooing. I love how she is interacting with us now...it's so fun to listen to her "talk" back to us. She had her 2 month appointment and got a clean bill of health and 3 shots - OUCH! I swear it's harder on me than it is on her! She was 11lbs 4oz and 22.5 inches at her appointment. Here are some recent pictures of her.


We went to Houston this past weekend to visit both of our families. It's always so great to see everyone and I know they love seeing the girls!

Coltin and Sydney

Harper LOVED great Grandpa's cowboy hat...she kept "talking" to it!! :)

Papa and Sydney

Sydney's first boat ride
Granny and Sydney

Dustin and Harper
Harper so comfy on Nanny!

8 weeks old

Harper is growing like a weed! I think she's about 10.5 lbs now (our super scientific way of finding out her weight is for me to get on the scale first then add her and subtract...that works right? :)) She's starting to be awake more and just started smiling this week...though I still haven't caught it on camera yet. Oh, and she's starting to coo at us now too. It's the sweetest little sound!

Parks

One of Sydney's favorite things to do, is to go to the park. We have an elementary school right down the street from us (about half a mile) that has 3 playgrounds on it so we spend a lot of time there. However, every once in a while, I'll venture out to new parks as a special treat. Lately, we have really enjoyed going to Arbor Hills. It's perfect for Sydney because there's a lot to do and perfect for Harper and I because there is a covered gazebo area where I can sit and still see the whole playground. We've gone there a few times to have a picnic lunch and then play and Sydney just loves it. I think she's gone down every slide on this playground a hundred times now.

Pool time fun!

We discovered through some other friends, that there is a great pool just minutes from our house this summer. Sydney LOVES going there and I love taking her there because the kiddie area is fenced in and there are 3 lifeguards on duty in that area. Makes me feel so much better in case I'm tending to Harper and Sydney gets out of my sight. Here are some pics we took a couple of times that we were there. Harper is only 8 days old in the one where she is wearing the blue striped dress...hey, you get out quicker the second time around! :)

Rainy day fun!

Sydney got this really cute tent for her birthday (Thanks Jenn!) and I thought today would be the perfect day to set it up. She is LOVING it!

One Month (and one day) old!

Yesterday marked Harper's one month birthday! I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by. I think it's going by even faster this time than it did with Sydney. Harper celebrated her one month birthday by letting mommy get 6 straight hours of sleep...though she hasn't done that again since. Boo! Most of the time she sleeps for about 4.5 hours a stretch at night. I guess that's not too bad! I took her to a Mother's Gift (the lactation group at our hospital) on Friday for a weight check. It's really nice that they just let you drop in at any time to have your baby weighed. She was a whopping 9.02 lbs!! So that puts her up about 2.5 lbs since she was born. I love that she is finally out of preemie clothes and can fit into most of her NB sized stuff. Other than that, she's doing what most newborns do...eat & sleep (though she's starting to be awake more). Can't wait to see what the next month brings!