Love

I kept Harper home from daycare today, so I took this opportunity to play around with the camera. My brother in law knows a little about cameras and is trying to teach my about depth of field and other "photography" things. He looked at some of these pics and said I had successfully achieved depth of field. They are not the best pictures, but it's a start.

On another note, I discovered today that my daughter has learned a sign! We were eating ice cream (a perk of staying home with mom) and I asked her if she wanted some more. She made the sign for more and then opened her mouth awaiting her next bite. What a smart little cookie! There is a little girl at her daycare that uses some signs, I guess she's picked a few up from her. I was impressed and I am taking this opportunity to brag on my daughter : )

I was under the illusion that staunch independence and, at times, out right defiance would come at a later age. I'm beginning to understand that I have many misconceptions about childhood! Our latest battle is tooth brushing. She would be more than happy to brush her teeth, as long as we let her do it herself. I'm sure you can imagine a toddler attempting to brush her teeth. There is lots of brushing of the lips, crunching down on the toothbrush, and sucking the toothpaste off the brush. Very little "cleaning" actually occurs. To Harper, she is doing a fine job. According to me, this is still a task better left to Mom. I am going to record our next toothbrushing session so that the dentist can see one of two things; 1) that this twice daily task more resembles a UFC mixed martial arts match than a common hygenic practice, and 2)that there is evidence that I tried, tried to keep her teeth as clean as I could. I want video documentation in case there was something wrong with her teeth, it wasn't from lack of effort on my part.

Lost Treasure

While cleaning out our storage closet...something which I rarely do because I get overwhelmed with it all almost immediately... I discovered an unknown treasure. Apparently shortly before Brandon and I got married, he purchased a Canon Rebel camera. It's not the top of the line, newest addition, whatever....but to me, it's amazing! I've been lamenting the fact that I don't take nearly enough pictures of Harper, and that I used to really enjoying taking pictures, but didn't have a camera to do this with. So, imagine my excitement when I pulled this gem out of a box way in the back! Brandon maintains that I've known that he owned that camera forever and didn't want to use it because I don't know how to use it. He's half right. I don't really know how to use it. Sure, it has a "point and shoot" mode, which is fine, but I long for more! So, I'm slowing learning how to use the manual controls. When I was in high school, I wrote for the newspaper and we had to take our own pictures. I vaguely remember some things....but not enough. So, I'm searching You Tube for tutorials and venturing out to practice. I'm sure I'll never be fantastic, but I'll get good enough at it to make me happy. Hopefully.

Vacations yet to come...

After our recent excursion to Memphis, Brandon and I decided it was high time we took a proper vacation, just the two of us. We have decided on a camping trip the week of Christmas in beautiful and scenic Arizona. Yes, that's right, I say we're camping in December. My hunger for outdoor adventure and solitude has increased since living in the natural state. I have always said I wanted to write a book, and when I wrote my book I would find some far off, secluded natural setting to be alone, drink coffee and write. Who knows when that will happen! Anyway, we are still considering where we want to camp. Lake Havasu is at the top of our list, but we are still open to other possibilities. Who knows where we will end up!

Beale Street Blast

On Saturday we took the plunge...and by plunge, I mean we left Harper over night for the first time. I'd been looking forward to the trip, but dreading leaving her. I was sure she would fall to pieces and be upset the whole time. My, how wrong I was. We took her to our friends house and when it was time to say goodbye, I got watery eyed. I bent down, told Harper I loved her and said, "bye bye!" and she looked up at me and screamed, BYE!, smiled, and went back to playing with the cat. After that we headed down to Memphis to spend an evening on Beale St.! It was a blast! We walked around and looked at all of the crazy people on the street. We ended up at B.B. Kings. It was great fun, and nice to spend a night with my husband and friends. I go back to work on Wednesday, not excited.

Funk

I didn't do anything interesting today, in fact, I did the antithesis of interesting today...yes that's right, another teacher workshop!!! Two women that sat in front of me insisted on talking to each other the ENTIRE time! They weren't whispering either, they were talking at a normal volume. Most of their conversations consisted of criticisms of the instructors proposed methods and how they (because they went to grad school) know how to do it better. It was highly irritating. Just when I thought they couldn't annoy me any further, they outdid themselves in the afternoon. One of the women answered her phone and continued to speak to the caller for 5 minutes, all while the instructor is presenting. Someone finally got fed up with her and "shushed" her. Her response to this was to hang up her phone and say, out loud, "WHO SHUSHED ME??? THAT IS SOOO RUDE!" Really? You think that's rude?? You can't think of anything else going on that was RUDE??" At least I don't work with her.

Smells llike teen spirit...

A requirement for all teachers is to obtain 60 hours of professional development during the year. Sometimes this involves trips to conferences in exciting destinations like Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, etc. For me, however, my destination is the sprawling urban metropolis of Beebe, Arkansas. I'm pretty sure I saw a subway and a gas station on the way in, and yes, that is the end of the list of things I saw on my way into "town". I took a wrong turn on my way to the high school and began realizing I was headed in the wrong direction when I noticed that the only thing on either side of my car was grass and cows...and grass...and cows. I did eventually make it to my destination. I've heard it said that smell is one of the most powerful senses. The odor that I encountered when I stepped into Beebe High School was not one that sent my mind reeling into a sunny memory of my childhood...no...I had just one thought.... "this place totally smells like cat food". And it did, smell exactly like cat food, wet cat food to be exact. Lovely. It really set the tone for the entire day. Did you know there are 11 different kinds of addition problems?? Nope, I didn't either.

I really need to commit to blogging more, especially since my major excuse is no time. This is exceptionally absurd considering I write in a journal every night. So let's see, what's been going on with me...sadly, not a lot. I taught summer school, which was nice, at least I should say the extra paycheck is nice. I had two students who learned to speak English this year. Much to their dismay, I still understand a fair amount of Spanish so they're murmurs about how mean I was were not as secret as they would have liked!

Since that has ended I've been spending time at home with Harper. I'll take this moment to gloat a little about how smart I think my daughter is, and of course, my opinion is not biased in any way. I'm in awe about how much she has changed in the past year. She has said her first word, "dog". She loves dogs, LOVES them. There are no plans for the immediate future to get her a dog, however. I'd her to be old enough to help take care of it. Otherwise, it's just another being for me to clean up after.





She has also decided that she no longer hates the bathtub. Thank goodness. Bath time for the past few months has been torture. She would scream and cry and attempt to climb out of the bathtub. Now she loves it. Whatever. I'm sure her mind will change on this or something else in the near future. I always said I wanted to daughter with an opinion, a mind of her own. Boy did I ever get one!

The past month or so....

I don't really have anything interesting to say, and sadly, no new pictures! Harper is 13 months old, I can't believe it! We spent her birthday in the hospital. She had an infection in the tissue surrounding the bone in her elbow, yikes! We spent 4 days in the hospital, and as you can imagine I'm sure, it was not fun for anyone. We finally celebrated her birthday the Saturday following coming home from the hospital. My mom flew in because I didn't want Harper to go back to daycare for a few days so she could recover. We bought her a small cake for her to destroy. We lighted some candles and began to sing to her. She burst in tears and continued to cry for several minutes. She's just like her mother apparently, she hates to be the center of attention! She did eventually enjoy her cake and had a wonderful birthday. Her favorites gifts were a Disney Princess bouncing ball and a Dr. Seuss book. She turns each page and "reads" and when she gets to the end she turns it upside down and reads it again. So cute. The school year is almost over for me and I couldn't be happier! Although, because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm teaching summer school! But before all that craziness happens, I get to go to Phoenix for my cousin's wedding. Should be fun! Well that's about it for now...There's never a dull moment at the Helms'!

So Spring Break.....

So this week was supposed to be my Spring Break, and while I'm not in school this week it has been far from a break. On Sunday night, Harper and I started throwing up. I quickly got better, but Harper has been sick all week. She has improved everyday, but definately has stayed sick all week. I love my daughter and I would do anything for her, but this was not exactly how I pictured my break. I had all these great plans for Harper and I to get out and do, and I didn't get to do anything of them. I don't want to sound whiny, I'm just disappointed. I was so excited to get to spend a whole week with my daughter and have no daycare for a week. Oh well, summer is coming soon! I've also found out some upsetting news about a friend this week. I've been deceived by this person and it hurts me deeply. I consider myself a very forgiving person, but lying is especially hard to me to work through. If you read this and you pray, please pray that God will give me the wisdom necessary to deal with this unfortunate situation. Sorry there are no new pictures, I didn't think anyone wanted to see our flu faces.

Icy weather

Growing up in Phoenix, there was never the possibility of missing school because of weather. Only as an adult have been able to experience the nervous anticipation of an impending snow day. It makes me feel like a kid again! I woke up at 4 am this morning to check the news...no luck today, but tomorrow will be a different story! I am hoping for a nice thick layer of ice to be coating the roads, making traveling to school impossible. Brandon is convinced that there had to be at least one day when I was young that school was cancelled due to "extreme, mind-melting heat". Silly Brandon...we just grin and bear it. I reminded him that up north, kids still go to school in the snow and ice because they're prepared for it, they've adapted to it. It's like that in Phoenix as well. 115 degrees? No problem! I'll be coming to Phoenix in February for a short visit, and I'm hoping for some warmer weather, maybe not 115 degrees, anything above freezing would be acceptable! Harper has started crawling and pulling up on everything! She pulled herself up to standing in her crib today, and shortly after lost her balance and hit her face on the rail. She had a nose bleed and Brandon just about lost his mind. He was ready to drive her to the E.R.! Oh daddies...so sweet and overprotective.

So long Holidays....

So the holidays are officially over and I have to return to work tomorrow. I've really enjoyed the time I've spent at home with my daughter. Two whole weeks of no daycare, just mommy. Hopefully she'll go back to her normal routine without much fuss. I realized over this break that I've become a bit of a homebody. I still like to go out with my friends, get a babysitter and go on date night with Brandon, but mostly, I just want to be at home with my family. There is something very comforting about having them all around me and just being still, at home. It's also better for my wallet too! My mom and I have planned a trip for Harper and I to come visit in February. I'm a little nervous about the trip because this time I will be traveling alone with Harper. Last time we were on a plane, I breast fed her until she went to sleep and then she stayed asleep the whole trip. I have this feeling that this time will not be so easy. But we'll see.