while this is probably the most exciting thing to happen to me in a while (besides acquiring a shiny new Blackberry for christmas on which to email, facebook and tweet), there are going to be a few things you must do to make sure you keep getting the HH goodness coming your way.

• if you have us in your bookmarks, you’ll need to go to www.harpershappenings.com and re-bookmark us. delete the old one ’cause you won’t need to come here anymore.
• if you have us in your Blogger “blogs i’m reading” list, you’ll need to replace this url with the new one.
• if you have us on YOUR websites blogroll (p.s. thank you!), you’ll need to update the link.
• if you’re my grandma, you’ll need to have me come over and do this for you.

so. a recap. our NEW address is WWW.HARPERSHAPPENINGS.COM

feel free to email me if you have any questions. i’m super duper excited you guys. i hope i don’t lose any readers, but i think (no, i know) this is going to be way better! for everyone!

while this blog will still be here, it won’t be updated in any way. so please head over to our new home and hang out.

hugs and kisses,

mandy

i started this blog in 2009 and my readers consisted of people i actually knew in real life. now i have readers whom i’ve never met in real life, yet consider friends. the life of a stay at home mama can be lonely at times (not in the physical way ’cause let’s face it, having a little person strapped to you all day or biting your ankles isn’t lonely, per se) and i’m not sure i would have survived my first full year of it without the kindness of strangers willing to listen to me here. getting comments saying at least one person can relate to me is amazing. having a place where my family far away can see Harper grow is amazing. having a place where i can speak like an adult? also amazing.

it’s kinda baffling to me that the little thing i started has turned into something much bigger. people have told me the craziest things. like that my posts make their day. what? that’s incredible. i never could have imagined. so thanks guys. i hope that i can continue to make someones day (and not crumble under the pressure) in the coming year.

when H was born i was sad to find there were little to no mom groups in the area (and omg, remember when i got denied from one?). now i have the biggest mom group ever and i love it! granted, we can’t get together, which really blows, but we lean on  each other, share stories and countless complaints and joys of motherhood. a special shoutout to my family, and scot’s family who read, for still liking me even though i sometimes say bad words and share a little too much information about birthing a child.

2010 is going to be a good year, i know it. i have resolutions that are not out of reach and that i look forward to um, resoluting. resolving? anyways, i’m stoked on ’10. hopefully some changes for the better will be coming for my little blog and mayhaps it will no longer look like a 6 year old maintains it? hopefully.

so anywho, thanks guys! thanks to my new friends, old friends, people who comment on the daily and even those who don’t but still read daily (maybe in 2010 your resolution should be to say hi? just saying). and also, props on the fact that i only had one negative comment all year and it was the math patrol coming to give me a citation.

Scot, myself, and of course the star of this whole show, Harper, wish you and yours nothing but the best in 2010! (except you, math police).

did you know i started the year with a 2 month old? a two month old. like, at this time last year it had only been 8 weeks since i graced the world with Harper’s presence (you’re welcome!). i was still sporting maternity jeans, gratuitously using nipple cream and probably still shaking cans of dermoplast (my bsff – best spray friend forever). looking through the photos made me want to do the unthinkable : immediately get pregnant again. like yesterday. like, i need to cuddle a tiny freshly baked wrinkly-leg-skinned newborn NOW. i give to you the following photographic evidence as the culprits for said fever breaking out:

the 6 hours after birth photo

i mean, look you guys! i did this. i can do it again, right? i made that little human and then pushed her out. nevermind my meatslab arms and 6 chins, they went away eventually and they will again! pay no mind that my lady parts were throbbing, that nursing bra was rubbing uncomfortably against my bleeding nipples and i was only sleeping because of ambien, I SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER BABY because look at her!

the daddy and baby napping photo

ok seriously? come on. if i squeed any louder i might squee right off a bridge. tiny sleeping babeh + handsome man you married + both sleeping peacefully = makes me want to cry. sidenote: these 2 photos might have been the only actual 2 times we slept.

the stripey dipey baby bum/tiny curled toes photo

oh hail no. you can’t expect anyone with ovaries to look at this and not want to immediately get impregnated. what are you doing baby feet? oh, just being tiny and fat and curly? and hey you, baby bum – who do you think you are? oh, just a stripey cushy little tushy? ok, carry on.

stupid idiot not-cute-at-all baby hat photo

warning : do not look directly at this photo. when i did, i got the sudden urge to eat celery, buy a huge bottle of cocoabutter and map out all baskin robins locations within a 10 mile radius in order to be prepared for pregnancy numero dos. the combination of weird monster-animal shirt, sweater hat with ears and braided flaps, and doe-eyed nugget will have you running to rite-aid to pick up some ovulation kits at 1am. danger danger danger.

operation 2009 photo post = fail. NOT going to happen. not only is my blog not big enough for all the adorable photos i’d need to use to celebrate the year that was, i just don’t think it would be appropriate for my husband to wake up to me making a necklace of Harper’s baby booties or poking holes in things i shouldn’t be. just not a good end to the year, you know?

we had our first christmas last sunday with Scot’s side of the family. it was fun and happy and made me so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family. i love my in-laws, and i know many people who can’t say the same so i consider myself very lucky! Harper had a fab time running around with her 3 cousins, Sage, Lincoln and Truman.christmas day was one of my favorite memories of the year for sure. Harper was so happy to be woken up by mommy & daddy, and Scot’s omgilovechristmas attitude just makes me so happy. it’s like having 2 kids, only one of them knows how to potty in the toilet and fix things when i break them.

we had cinnamon rolls, stockings and gifts, GG came over to help us celebrate and i didn’t once get out of my festive jammies. totally acceptable for the occasion though, so no apologizing here (yes, a bra was at the party). dinner was amazing and we rotated a christmas story, the santa clause and elf all day on the tube. Scot loved the gift i got him (a Garmin) and i might marry the gift he got me (a Blackberry).

yesterday we had our 3rd christmas with my entire family. it was the first time in 19 years we’d all been together for christmas. many thanksgivings, but not christmas since 1990. it was awesome to all be together and Harper was totally spoiled, along with the newest addition to the family, little Cole. i contemplated stealing him many times throughout the day, but settled for nomming on his feet and hands. he’s freaking adorable! my cousin katie and her hubs kevin should get some sort of award for babymaking.

i should clarify though that we all got spoiled:

as my family always says at christmastime while we admire a huge pile of gifts, “what do the rich people do for christmas?”. seriously, as these were being opened i feared a child could be lost in the piles of goodies, wrapping paper, tissue and bows. but alas, both kiddos made it out safely, and with much more clothes and toys than they started with. a prime rib and ham dinner of epic proportions followed and by the time we got home it took all of my energy to unload the car. today has been a 3 cup morning and the daunting task of cleaning/organizing/taking down decorations is bothering my ocd side a little bit, yet here i sit NOT doing any of those things. does it make me a geek that i’m blogging instead of taking care of my housewifely duties?

i hope that a) everyone had an equally merry christmas (if that’s your thing) and b) that you’re as exhausted and slacking as much as i am so i can feel better about myself.

so when i came across Gwen Bell’s #best09 project last month, i got super excited and totally planned on doing it. then all of a sudden it was like the 12th of december and i didn’t want to jump in all late (even though that’s so what i do) so i totally gave up. today i checked what the topic was for the 23rd : webtool. since i am totally and 100% technically uh, special,  and could never write a post about anything web-related (exhibit a, this hot mess of a place i lovingly call my blog), i have decided to do tomorrows topic, learning experience. what was a learning experience this year that changed you?

this is what i like to call a loaded question. especially to a new mom. i mean, what didn’t i learn? nearly every day of the last 365, i have learned something new, and almost all of them changed me. and i talk about all of them here. right? right…except the one thing i learned the most about:

my marriage.

you know when you’re engaged and people give you all that advice about being married? you know, like “never go to bed mad” and “marriage is hard work” and stuff? guess what i learned this year? they were right. having a baby really brings marriage to a whole new level. sometimes you see things in your other half that you never knew and sometimes those things make you smile (like how excited he can be to come home and swoop up equally excited little girl) and sometimes those things make you frown (like learning he really can sleep through a shrilling baby scream even though technically, it’s his damn turn). even though Scot and i always made a good team, it’s more important now. you know, since we’re solely responsible for raising an upstanding human being and all.

when H was 6 weeks old we were at the grocery store. i remember as we were putting the groceries in the trunk (Scot) then putting the baby in the car (me) then putting the stroller in the trunk (Scot) then putting the cart back (me) then highfiving (team effort) and being realllly smug about how awesome we were. small victory? yes. but to 2 sleep deprived, spit up covered new parents, it’s huge. since then we’ve conquered even bigger obstacles of parenting and there is nothing more comforting that knowing you can trust the person you signed up for this with.

it wasn’t always easy. rarely do you read an honest piece about how parenthood affects your marriage. i’m not sure if people are lying to themselves or ashamed or what. why is it that complete strangers will openly tell you their opinion on breastfeeding in the checkout line, or warn you of the perils of childbirth (“GET THE EPIDURAL”) but no one ever mentions “oh and your marriage will probably suffer”? i guess with all of the excitement and anxiety about bringing a baby into the world, you just don’t stop to think that said baby might mess with your relationship. next thing you know the baby is here, and it just did something superuber cute and someone didn’t see it because someone had their eyes glued to sportscenter. oh and equally, someone who used to look cute everyday now refuses to wash their hair and boycotts a bra because someone is too tired/busy/lazy to do so.

in closing (and what i mean by that is, i hear Harper waking up from her nap even though i’m not completely done and YES i once again wasted naptime on blogging), i love my husband. i love him more everyday. and lord knows i am freaking lucky he loves me, too. can you imagine putting up with me on the daily (if you need an address to send him sympathy cards, email me)? this year i really learned what people meant by “marriage is hardwork”. it really is, but should always be followed up with “but totally worth it”.

whats that? hmm? oh, sorry, i can’t hear you over my daughters wildly out of season attire. apparently i’ve been putting “do laundry” right under “go christmas shopping” on my list of superimportant things to do. i have limited time left before i can’t do crap like this because soon Harper will start asking why she’s wearing pumpkin jammies when santa is coming (among other things like “where do pugs come from?” and “mama, why can’t i have some of your juice?”).

luckily we had clean and cute stuff for her to wear in public. pay no mind to the creepy fuzz hand because LOOK A BUNNY!

my love affair with coffee started young. my moms very favorite ever ice cream has always been hagendaaz coffee. i remember starting when i was 5 she would share her pint with me (seriously a loving gesture only a mother can do). she’d get the pint, 2 spoons, and wrap the container in a kitchen towel and we’d sit and watch whichever movie it was that week that i insisted on watching daily (it went something like this : bedknobs and broomsticks for 7 days, pollyanna for 5 days, mary poppins for 11 days, repeat repeat repeat and OMG i wanted pollyannas dresses and shoes SO BAD).

when Scot and i got engaged, i moved to a new town and quit my desk job that i’d had for 6 years. thanks to pension (yeah i was 24 years old and had a pension plan) and cleaning out my 401k (p.s. NEVER do this, it’s stupid and please for the love of tax penalties, promise me you’ll never DO THIS), i didn’t have to work for the 6 months leading up to our wedding. after the honeymoon, i had to get a job. but what to do? i decided it would be high time to try something new and fun. i became a barista.

kind of a weird choice at 25, as was reminded to me as i sat in tully’s orientation with highschoolers and college students, but i wanted something different. and different is what i got.

whilst i got seriously into coffee, how it’s made, how to make it, and how to steam milk to the perfect fluffy foam, i also got a one way ticket to crazy town courtesy of the people who buy coffee. after a few months of the insanity (i really do mean INSANITY, anyone who has ever been a barista before can back me on this), i began doing things really out of character for me. like burning shots when someone was rude, making decaf drinks for the guy who brought in a list of his co-workers drinks and then didn’t tip, and way overcharging the lady who wouldn’t get off her bluetooth long enough to order and pay for her coffee (you came in here, remember? i’m not interrupting you, you’re interrupting me). i promise you i am not a mean person, but these coffee drinkers? a different breed of people.

(please pay NO attention that i AM totally one of those people, however i am now an impeccable coffee customer. and you should be too : you think i invented any of those moves? uh, no.)

[this would be the part where i insert a photo of me being perky behind an espresso machine circa 2006, except i refused, refused, to ever have my picture taken because there is nothing flattering about khakis, a white polo shirt and one-size-fits all apron. nothing.]

there were days that were fun. i was in charge of the art on the chalkboard and would be unreasonably proud of myself for the puns i would come up with. “Oh my Ganache! Orange you glad it’s chocolate month?” and sending people off with “thanks a latte!” (the line to be my friend is over there…). but then there were the days where the homeless lady on the corner (who i unfortunately always gave free coffee to and repayed me by peeing standing up on our sidewalk in front of the store in broad daylight) would try to smoke in the store and/or try to take a bath in our sink. not to mention the 4:30am start time but, at least i had free access to copious amounts of caffeine and unlimited everything bagels (what? i gained 10 pounds while working there? what?).

these days i do NOT miss being a barista (well, except the free coffee part and the fact that no one can make my americano/breve chai/doppio con panna to my liking), and the extent of my coffee art is pressing “delay brew” on the mr. coffee. but when i do decide to pay someone to make some for me,  i always ask for my drinks in the correct order, tip appropriately and never, ever, pee standing up on the sidewalk in broad daylight.

1] baby rabies :: if you’re a mom and you read blogs, this one probably comes as no surprise to you and i’m willing to bet you read it, too.  i just really enjoy Jill’s writing, her honesty about parenting, and her sense of humor. rarely can i not relate to her, and that is what makes it one of my favorite reads. if it were acceptable and not annoying for me to reply with “omg, me too!” on every post, it would happen. one of my favorite things i ever read there was her description of the “heiney hoagie” and the perils of after-birth in her recovery post, because OMG, me too!

2] how about orange :: i pink puffy heart crafting. i’m not all that great at it, but gosh do i enjoy it. HAO has the cutest ideas and projects that are easy and freaking precious. download all kinds of goodies for free (my favorite!) like gift tags, desktop wallpapers, invites, note cards…the list goes on. plus tutorials on felt projects (love!), bow making, and tons of other ridiculously cute and fun things. i genuinely get a happy dance going when there is something new to try.

3] sesame ellis photoblog :: you know when you come across  a blog and you’re like “how does she do it?”? enter rachel devine. she’s just…lovely. everything about her, her family, her photography just makes me smile. if i kept going in this paragraph, it would just a be a string of adjectives that could put me in weirdo territory, so i’ll just say : i love this blog.

4] scott, lorie, henry & ben…but mostly henry & ben :: i can legitimately say i have NO idea how i found this little gem, but holy adorable family batman. i also happen to think lorie is sweet and head over heels in love with her boys, which is more than apparent by her words. oh, and she’s pretty and funny, both of which help when reading and looking at pictures of someone. just saying.

5] rave & review :: really good giveaways and honest reviews on products for little ones. i’d love to see leanne’s garage, because of all the cool stuff she must have accumulated! someday i might win something, and trust me, you’ll hear about it.

6] this is the first day of my life :: one day earlier this year i saw that HH had been linked in a new blog. i went to check it out and found emily, who had posted the nicest words about my little ol’ blog. it made me feel gushy inside and since then, we have become fast internet friends. she is pregnant with twins who will essentially be born the same time her first little dude turns ONE! Hud-B is one of the cutest little guys i’ve ever seen and i know the twins will be little lookers as well. i have a nice little blog family of girls whom i adore and Em is one of them.

7] smonk you :: is there anything cuter than a guy blogging about becoming a dad? i think not. my husband would never blog in a million years (i had to make a facebook for him, and even then he never uses it), but i feel like if he did, it would be like this. also, love the other perspective of pregnancy. you know the side who might want to say we are crazy but knows better?

8] regretsy :: i mean, really people, there are no words. props to the moon and back to my friend Jessica for introducing it to me. it’s just so.good.

9. matt, liz and madeline :: ok, this one is a cheat because i did not discover it in 2009. i started reading when i was just barely pregnant with Harper. if you watch Oprah or have ever been on the internet in general, you have probably heard of Matt and Maddy. i used to cry (like, ugly cry) at every post Matt wrote at the unimaginable pain he must have gone through (and still goes through). he is inspiring, funny, honest and i appreciate so much his willingness to share his & Maddy’s life with the rest of us.

10] dear baby :: just darling. and envy-inducing.

what are some of your favorite blogs?

i remember in the early months when i thought things were hard. things like cleaning dr. browns bottles (hello, they have like 46 parts each!), leaving the house with an infant and thinking that her poop smelled (HA! her poop did NOT smell. her poops now SMELL). i look back and laugh because cleaning bottles was easy peasy compared to cleaning up the tornado that comes through my kitchen 3 times a day. leaving the house was easy when i could carry a car seat into the bank, post office and other places that you pop in and out of and rock it with my foot while i stood in line.

but now we have a 13 month old on our hands. a spunky, mobile, solid food eating, tantrum throwing, and hilarious 13 month old. here is what Harper is up to these days:

• walking. fast. she is really getting the hang of it, but still teeters over every once in while. luckily, she’s really tough (seriously the girl rarely cries in situations where i sure as heck would), and only says “ow” when she falls down. then gets right back up.
• being picky. while she is getting better, she still thinks she will survive on solely pancakes, bananas, mac&cheese, yogurt melts and mum mums. although she fully transitioned to whole milk with no issues, i am giving her formula (good to grow) because i worry about all the nutrients she might be missing with her hatred for all things green.
• wearing size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothes. girl has got some stubby little legs and still hasn’t reached 20 pounds. still getting the “9 months?” guess everywhere we go. gnome status, i tell you.
• loving beyond all reason the word “HI”. i would consider this her first real word, because she actually understands how it is used and when you say it, as she does “bye bye”. but hi? she will say it over. and over. and over again until you acknowledge her. this makes for funny interactions in public. and when she is talking to the cat.
• not a fan of “no” or even a stern voice directed towards her. has thrown herself on the ground a few times screaming. no comments necessary from any family with things like “that’s what you get” or “wonder where she got it from”.
• sporting 7 teeth.
• essentially the cutest, silliest, most unique little nugget i’ve ever known. i absolutely love being her mommy.

1] as we’re leaving the house:

scot : aren’t you going to wear a coat?

mandy: ummm, i’ll be fine, let’s just go.

cue whining and cursing for the duration of said trip and a lot of side eyes from husband while keeping “i told you so”s to himself.

2] as we’re leaving the house:

scot: aren’t you going to wear a coat?

mandy: you’re right, i should.

then i put on a coat, but oh, i am wearing a 3/4 length sleeve shirt. no sleeve to grab hold of while i pull my coat on, resulting in 3/4 sleeve bunch up, resulting in me freaking out because i hate the feeling of my sleeves bunching up, resulting in me ripping off coat and throwing it across the room (have i mentioned i’m a 6 year old?). cue husband almost injuring his eyes from giving side eyes because hello, he married a crazy.

then there is the driving. if ice or snow is involved, i immediately refuse to go anywhere and insist that people i care about do the same. instead of being an irrational fear (like most of mine are), this one is based on a real scenario that i’ll probably never forget for as long as i live. in 2003 i managed to do this to a Ford F150:

since i’m alive (by some miracle) i can joke that i don’t think anyone could smash a giant truck like that into oblivion any better than that without a contraption you find at a junk yard (go me! i love succeeding). how does one do something like this? only with the help of some black ice, swerving into a median and flipping 5 times, coming to rest just short of the opposite freeway with oncoming traffic. throw in ALL of your christmas gifts and luggage in the king cab so as you flip, it can all be thrown about, whacking you in the head, breaking windows and then being strewn about the freeway. don’t forget to be knocked unconscious and waking up hanging upside down. people, all i can say is please wear your seatbelt. it will break your collarbone, leaving you with a lightning bolt shaped one for the rest of your life, but at least you’ll have a life (and personally, i like my lightning bolt).

if i didn’t adore my family and friends so much, i’d make scot move us to figi or hawaii or arizona. freedom from rain and ice, where i could wear open toed shoes all year and not even have a coat closet. but yeah, you guessed it, i’d complain about how hot it is. sigh.