April, in December...

I knew I would find it, eventually.

I lost the memory card for my camera a while back, I've been searching for it everywhere!

The card had pictures on it from Harper's 2nd birthday party.

 We had her party at our church, they have a nice playground.  Too bad it was blazing hot outside!

A little too hot for April, if you ask me!

I can't believe how much she's grown up since then.

She has more hair, she's a lot taller, and she talks non-stop!

Check out those pigtails...I was pretty proud of those! She finally had enough hair to do something with it!

Now she likes ponytails and barrettes...such a little lady!

She looks more like a little girl now too, not really like a baby anymore.

She's growing up.

Somehow I'll learn to deal with that!

Christmas, Christmas time is here....

Getting my house ready for my parents to visit, they'll be here tomorrow.

I'll admit, I'm not much of a housekeeper.

I'll do what I can to make sure it's reasonably clean, but some of the more meticulous cleaning jobs often fall by the way side.  

Like dusting.

I hate dusting.

We have a lot of dark furniture so it really shows. Luckily, Harper thinks it's fun to help me.

I choose to capatalize on this while I can, because let's face it, she won't always feel this way!

As I was cleaning, I decided to get out my camera and take a few shots of the tree.

I'm still not great with my camera.  I don't like the way pictures look with the flash, and I don't have any training with using the camera.  It's been a lot of trial and error. Mostly error!  But oh well, I'm learning.

I can't wait for Harper to open her gifts! She's getting some gems this year.

There are quite a few gifts under the tree, Harper will love it.  

I am thankful for a lot this year.  My parents will be here and my sister and her husband will spend Christmas with us as well.

I am thankful for what I have.

I am thankful for what God, in His infinite wisdom, has had made me wait for, and for all the wonderful possibilities to come.

Merry Christmas and take a moment to be thankful.

Merry Christmas! (a little early!)

Brandon let me open one of my gifts a little early...this was probably a result of frequent questioning about what my gifts were.

This makes me sound greedy.

I am not.  

I do, however HATE surprises. Even good ones, like Christmas presents.

It literally brings me pain to anticipate a surprise.

I'm not really a control freak in any other part of my life.  But I do like to know what to expect.

We've all been there, opening a gift in front of someone, and they're watching you anxiously awaiting your reaction. You rip the paper open, to reveal a gift that you're not excited about. Not one bit.

And they're you are, knowing that you have about half a second to show excitement and elation. 

Awkward.

Anyway, I opened one gift of Brandon's choosing today. Vintage cowboy boots! I LOVE them!

I was going to post a picture of them, but it's late and I did not take a nap today...so maybe later.