Whew!

What a week! When I was a Brownie back in Midland, Texas, we use to sing this song:

Make new friends,
But keep keep the old.
One is silver
And the other's gold.

Harper would have made the members of Troupe 388 proud as her Christmas week was filled with friends both new and old. We were waiting for Harper to get her 4 month shots before she could meet her younger relatives. Well the shots came just in time for the holidays and we've been a social butterfly ever since!
Troupe 388 - yours truly in the Sally Jesse Rafael glasses

We kicked off last weekend with a visit from my Dad, step-mother Julia and Harper's two uncles, Parke and Nathan. Harp's was smitten with her uncles and I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that they were closer to her size then most of the people she's use to. We celebrated an early Christmas with the Swallows and Harper is loving her new Exersaucer they gave her.
Parke, Brooke, Harper and Nathan

Parke and Harper

Nathan and Harper

Julia and Harper

Harper and Grandpa

Tuesday afternoon we had a Christmas get-together with the Clark '98-'99 girls, their babies and the grandmothers. Its still amazing to me how so many of us have kids that are so close in age! I love that Harper will grow up with friends whose moms were some of my best friends from high school - both San Antonio friends and friends who live out of town.
The Williams Girls and the Meabon Girls

The Goertz Girls and the Meabon Girls



Then, Tuesday night we started off the Boswell Christmas Extravaganza with chili and tamales at our house. Harper was so excited to finally meet her cousins Will, Sam, Lily and Audrey, as well as her Aunt Bos. Lily has been sending Harper notes and drawings since before she was even born and I have a feeling she'll be one of Harper's future babysitters.
Harper meets the cousins and Aunt Bos

Harper and Lily

Harper had PT on Wednesday and since she was in her holiday festive wear and since we were at the hospital, we swung by the NICU to say hello to a few special friends. It was so good to see Harper's primary team and show them all of Harper's progress. They are such a huge part of why she's doing so well! We were just sad we missed Dr. Kenton who was off for the holidays. We even stopped by the day that Santa and the elves were making there rounds so Harps got in a little extra QT with the big guy.



That afternoon, Jared's brother James (aka Uncle LJ) arrived to spend the Christmas holidays with us. Jared and I took LJ to the Spurs game that night so Harper had another sleep over with Honey and Grandy. She's going through a bit of a mommy stage that seems to hit her like a ton of bricks just before she goes to bed. She'll be fine and dandy and then boom! Meltdown city. She had about a 20 minute meltdown for Honey and Grandy and then promptly fell asleep for the night. Something about those meltdowns just make me start to sweat and get all flustered so we are so thankful to my parents for getting through it and giving us an adult night out.
JAM III and JAM II

Thursday was Christmas Eve Eve which also happens to be one of my favorite days of the year. You're just on the verge of Christmas, relatives are coming in, the tree is filled with presents and there's something magical in the air. We continued the Boswell Christmas Extravaganza with dinner at Ashley, Bobby, Will, Sam and Lily's house. My step-sister Lynn and Harper's cousins Dylan and Elena came in from Austin and my step-brother David came in with Kim and cousins Hayden and Durham from Berkley. The cousin Christmas present exchange took place and, as you can imagine, wrapping paper was flying. Harper kept us entertained at the end of the night by laughing hysterically at a stuffed bee - if only we could all be so easily entertained!
Brooke, Harper and Bonnie the Great



Audrey and Brooke - 13 years ago

And in 2010

The great-grands with Evelyn (although Audrey's really a grand)

Grandy and Honey

On Christmas Eve, we were so sad that David's clan all got sick. Nothing's worse than being sick on Christmas and we had been looking forward to spending time with Hayden and Durham. So the rest of the group started the day off with a little Chris Madrid's. If you ever come to visit, there's a strong possibility we'll take you there for a world famous hamburger. They are like having Christmas in your belly! That night we went to the Christmas Eve service and as always, the candle lit Silent Night made both my mom and I cry like babies. Then off to Tom and Bonnie the Great's for dinner. Harper was a superstar during church and even managed to take a nap during the service.

Christmas morning, Jared, Harper, James and I woke up to find Santa had stuffed our stockings full and then opened presents by the tree.








Grammie made Harper a Christmas dress. She looked so festive.
The Christmas Dress - Pre-eruption

Christmas lunch was suppose to be at Mom and Steve's but with the California crew still not at 100%, we relocated back to Bonnie and Tom's. We were able to squeeze in some family photos before Harper threw up all over her Christmas dress and had to change into her play clothes. We always know there's a short timeframe before the volcano erupts! Mom made a pecan crusted beef tenderloin, mango mousse, bake ahead potatoes, spinach with artichoke hearts and pecan and pumpkin pie - fantastiche! Evelyn has a tradition of giving snow globes to the great-grand children. Harper was fascinated by hers! We finished the afternoon with games and headed home to crash.
Harper and her snow globe



Harps and Uncle LJ

Harper got a little fussy on Christmas day and just wasn't quite herself. She fought going to sleep and then proceeded to wake up every hour that night. Finally at 4am, the crying started so Harper ended up sleeping on my chest on the couch. After a full day of being fussy, we headed to the doctor this morning. I was just convinced that we were dealing with our first ear infection. Turns out the ears are clear and the girl is just constipated. You would be too after all that Christmas over indulgence! So tonight, we introduced prunes. Mmmmmm!

Harper's First Meal

At our last appointment, we were given the go-ahead by our pediatrician to start Harper on solid foods. Since we're already mixing a hefty amount of rice cereal into her bottles, Dr. McCray said to go ahead and start on the orange vegetables when we were ready. Harper's been paying alot of attention to our food - so much so that she started crying the other day when I was eating a Christmas cookie in front of her. I know, wouldn't a light salad have sounded better than a Christmas cookie but I believe in full indulgence during the holiday season...and I digress. Anywho, we made the plunge into the world of vegetables last night, starting with squash.

And now I present to you, Harper eating (or licking if you want to be technical). Note the commentary and how obvious it is that we're first time parents. Someday we'll know what the heck we're doing!

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear

Harper meets the Fat Man




...and of course she only smiles for the $35 picture I had to buy from the elves and not for my camera.


And yes, I did bring a blanket for her to sit on Santa's lap. Although jolly and bright, I can't be sure Santa uses a good dose of hand sanitizer between children.

During the group photo, Santa said "Oh, the little one in the back likes my hair!" I thought he was just being jolly old St Nick until we finished our group photo and I realized Harper was trying to yank out a chunk of Santa's hair. She had a tight grip and wasn't letting go. Hmmm, not the way to impress the present guy Harper. I wonder how much a chunk of Santa's hair would go for on eBay???


Later today, she found her inner pyromaniac and wouldn't take her eyes off the Christmas Go Round at Honey and Grandy's house.







All packed up and ready to for more holiday cheer!

Holy Shrinking Omphalocele Batman!

**Warning: Omphalocele Pictures Below**

I hope everyone is having a very merry holiday season! The festivities have begun in the Meabon household.

On Friday, Harper attended her Honey's Bible Study Christmas Party. These fabulous women have been prayer warriors for Harper since early in my pregnancy and it was such a pleasure to have Harper meet them.

This weekend, Harper had her first slumber party at Grandy and Honey's house. My dinner club has a progressive dinner party each year and our house was appetizers and dinner. Harper didn't want to stick around for all of that boring adult stuff so she packed her bags and headed out for the night. She had a brief 15 minute meltdown but otherwise did great. She slept like a champ for her grandparents and woke up giggling and happy. I'll try to post pictures from the progressive dinner...well, at least the ones from the beginning of the night. I'll save some embarrassment to everyone and Dance Party USA might not make it on the blog!

I should be taking more pictures but we have a slew of holiday festive wear in Harper's closet. We've been switching into different Christmas gear every day - here's Harper modeling some of her sparkle wear.


Yesterday we had a Christmas play date with two of Harper's best friends, Field and Anabelle, and her new friends McClain and Hudson. Unfortunately, McClain was napped out when we got the group photo together and Hudson isn't set to arrive until next week. That's okay though - the group is headed to see Santa on Thursday so hopefully we'll get another group shot then...well, minus Hudson.



Field was into that bow. But then again, that's what I get for making my daughter a bow head.

I wanted to share one of my best Christmas presents this year - a shrinking omphalocele! Look at the size of that sucker! It started at about the size of a grapefruit and now looks about like a kiwi. The pretty new skin is showing through and the only original scab is the dark area which was her umbilical cord. This is hanging on by a thread and should fall off any day now. I'm one proud mama!






We have lots of visitors coming for the holidays over the next two weeks but we'll miss Uncle Brentie who is headed to Bali tomorrow for the holidays. I hope he brings us back a suntan - we'll miss you Brent!