Doctors, and Baseballs and Snakes...... Oh My!

Griffin had a piece of his artwork from school displayed at the MISD central office, so we went by after school one day to take a look.  He was beyond proud.  

I carried Harper in  - instead of using the stroller - since we would only be there for a few minutes.  I probably should have rethought the stroller since she wanted to touch every. thing.  She especially loved some clay fish some kids had made.  Talk about sweating it.  I was picturing in my mind her little raisin covered fingers grabbing one of the masterpieces, it falling and breaking into a millions little pieces on the floor, and then that poor kid showing up to show his mom and dad his work only to find it shattered.

I held her tight so that nightmare wouldn't come true.  

We stopped in front of Griffin's picture and were "Oooing and Ahhing" over it.  Griffin was standing next to me, and Harper leaned over and grabbed Griffin around his neck and gave him a hug.  It was so super sweet.  It was like she was telling him she was proud of him also.  Of course Griffin started laughing which made Harper want to do it even more.

It made me laugh because it totally made me think of the girl in Sixteen Candles, Long Duck Dong's girlfriend.   In the movie, she puts her arm around him -and she's way taller than LDD which makes me laugh anyway -  and then she gets this smirk in her face like "Yeah, he's mine".  Harper was way taller than Griff while I was holding her, and she kind of had the same smirk when she hugged Griff, only it looked like she was saying, "Yeah, he's my brother".


Ok..... sorry.  Got sidetracked.
Squirrel!  

Harper had her first official pediatrician visit last week.  Luckily, the orphanage had kept a pretty good record of all her shots and gave it to us.  Since it was all written in Chinese our guide, TingTing, translated it all so our pediatrician would know what she had already gotten and what she still needed.

We first had her weighed and measured at the doctor's office, which she wasn't quite sure of.  She also had her blood pressure taken, which freaked her out. 

And in no time flat....the screaming begins.  

I'm not really sure, but she either measured in at the 92nd or 97th percentile for height.  I say I'm not real sure about that because I couldn't hear over the screeching kid that was around.  Oh wait.... that screeching kid was mine!  Ha!  At any rate, if she keeps growing the way she is, I'll be the shortest one in our family in no time.  

It's like she knew what was coming....

The nurse measured her eyesight and hearing, and she tolerated it all pretty well.  The doctor came in and examined her pretty thoroughly and said she 'looked' good, but she also wanted to get a blood draw to test lead levels and just an overall work up.  This, in addition to the 2 other shots she needed.  

Oh. Dang.  

Let the games begin!!

Two nurses came in and first tried to get some blood.  It seemed like it took forever because the blood was dripping sooooo sloooowly into the tube.  Harper did not hold back in the scream department.  Holy cow.  I think her lungs get stronger every day..... because her screams sure sound like it! 

The funny thing, she didn't flinch.  I was holding her non-poked arm and laying over her legs, but really didn't need to.  She was screaming like they were chopping her arm off instead of just poking it, but she did not move once. Crazy! The boys were by far worse than she was when it comes to shots at that age.  They were like wrestling a greased pig when they got their shots.  

Anyway, she got the two other shots and we were soon rolling out the door.... with a sucker firmly in her cheek no doubt.

  

I didn't have the heart to tell her we will be back in a couple weeks for a follow up shot.  I'll spring that on her later.....

Scott's office is just around the corner from our pediatrician, so we popped over for a bit.  It was so fun introducing her to everyone there, even though she was a bit shy..... or maybe she was just pissed from the appointment she just had.  At any rate, it was still fun.  

She got to sit in daddy's chair at his desk and do what she likes most..... draw!  Not only that, daddy let her use his stamp AND have some "sign here" stickers.  Her day just started to get a bit better!

Back at home, we had a few snacks.  She started jib jabbering so I recorded it (don't mind the dishwasher draining in the background).  Is it Chinese?  Is it just babble?  Who knows.  We'll have to get one our our Mandarin speaking friends tell us for sure.

The next day I was downloading the video to the computer, and she heard it and wanted to watch.  Of course, I had to record that as well.  It was so funny to watch her as she was watching herself.  I wanted to know so badly what she was thinking as she watched herself.  Anyway, we had to watch it over again..... and again, and again.  I'm pretty sure we replayed that back a hundred times.  Easily.  

With the spring, comes spring baseball.  If we're lucky enough, we have games that are early in the evening during the week.  That way, there is plenty of time for lots of other things - showers, homework, etc - after the games.  However, that means we always have to eat dinner extremely early and on the run if we have an early game.  That part I hate.  Harper seemed to get the hang of eating in the car really quick. Ha!  If I were a good mom, I would plan ahead and make a healthy dinner instead of Sonic.  

Don't judge.  

An American girl at the ballpark..... with a nugget in hand.

 The next morning Brannen had a game, and she was just as big of a trooper that she had been at Griffin's.  She wasted no time in hanging with the guys.

 Harper and Daddy watching Brannen bat.

 She seemed perplexed on how everyone got behind the 'cage'

The boys were sweet and let her 'pitch' to them.

 Probably not the best idea to put her in a white sweater.  However, I had no idea she would be rolling in the dirt either!

After Brannen's game we went with some friends to eat lunch, and again, she had to be right in the middle of all the boys.

 I took her drink so she would look at me and the camera.  Don't mess with her food.... or drink...Ha!

Over the weekend, my mom, sister.n.law, Kim,  and niece, Kaytie, were coming in for a shower some of my friends were throwing for me and Harper.  So, I put her to work to get ready for our guests......

Everyone has to pull their weight around here!  haha.  

 Then, she and Daddy made breakfast 

I was so excited for Harper to finally meet one of her cousins, she and Kaytie are 9 months apart.  Harper was a bit shy when they first got here, but it didn't take her long to warm up.  Soon, she and Kaytie were running around playing.... and screaming.  This time, it was a happy scream, but none the less..... a scream.  

Haper got all dressed up for Kaytie in her Chinese hat of Griffin's.  I wonder if this is traditional dress when someone visits your house in China?  Ha!

They were so cute together and constantly moving.  It made it hard to get pictures.  

We got them to sit for a little bit in the chair together.....without the Chinese hat.

Walking into the shower, Harper wanted to hold Kaytie's hand

Since Harper was with me at this shower, I didn't get many pics.  In fact, this is the only one that I took.  I should've handed off my camera.  Oh well..... hindsight.    This pic is of the super cute cake one of my friends made.  Love! 

The shower was a lot of fun, and many of our friends that had been with us,  and prayed with us,  through the whole adoption process (especially the waiting!) were there.  It was really awesome to introduce Harper to some that she had not yet met.  

A great day indeed.  We are truly blessed.... beyond our wildest dreams.  

Mom, Kim and Kaytie all had to get back home yesterday.  It was a super short visit, but so glad they could all come up and celebrate with us at the shower.  

The morning they left, we had a nice little gift waiting for us at the end of our driveway..... a dead snake.  

My mom was crazy brave enough to pick it up and throw it in the trash.  Luckily, it was trash day!

And with that, I'll leave you with those gross pictures....... :)

2 year old tantrums..... no translation needed

We're still getting to know each other.  Harper makes us laugh every day and we are still completely in awe of her.  It seems like we see her do something new each day.  

Since she loves to draw, we showed her the blank canvas of the driveway.  A friend of ours gave her some brand spankin' new chalk and she didn't waste anytime diving head first into her work.... sometimes, literally.  

 Her favorite thing to do was smack her hands in the chalk and then leave handprints all over the place.

All. Over.

By the time we got her back inside, her Ranger outfit no longer looked blue.

We're also still trying to get her schedule down, but it's hard when we're always running around with her two older brothers to their activities.  During the day, I'm trying to get a regular nap time, but we've had appointments that have disrupted that.  One day we'll have it down..... we hope!

Since nap time has been so elusive, she and I have been spending a lot of time at the park.  She loves it.  She loves the slide, even though she likes to go up it instead of down, and also loves the swings.

She is also very infatuated with the bark that is all around the playground.  Who knew that would be such a source of cheap entertainment!

 On the way back from the park the other day, we stopped and talked to a few friends in the 'hood.  Friends that we hope to make many play dates with in the near future.  Harper seemed to really have fun with them..... even wanted to try on their shoes!

Sunday night I really wanted Chinese food.  Crazy, I know, since we just got home from eating it for two weeks straight.  The rest of the family really wasn't up for it, but I won out!  Of course, Harper was on my side.  If she could have crawled inside the bowl of fried rice, I think she would have!

 It was like she was meeting an old friend again!  

Monday, I took the boys to their pulmonologist for a check up.   I had to update our records, which meant I was doing so with.... a pen.

Watch out people.

I swear pens are like magnets to Harper.  She was playing with a puzzle, and she just happened to look up a split second to see the highly coveted object in my hand.

I saw her look at me, and in the next split second she was scrambling to get to me.  As she was doing so, I was QUICKLY trying to get all the info written down before she reached me. 

Too late.  

She was grabbing and swatting my hand, and I was doing all I could to keep one step ahead of her and keep the pen out of her reach.  

Finally she realized she wasn't getting it..... and LOST. HER. MIND.

With her now well known high pitched piercing scream, she let loose and no one was able to continue their conversations in the waiting room..... or down the hall, or the next several floors up or down for that matter.

All eyes were on us.  

This 2 year old was giving a stellar 2 year old tantrum, and we didn't need a translator to know what she was mad about.  

After what I swear was an hour, ok maybe more like 5 minutes,  she piped it down a little.  She was still not ready to admit defeat, and was whimpering a little.  

Then, just like that, she was laughing at something on the tv.  It was like a switch went off and she had forgotten all about it.  It was like she was saying to me "See.... I was just playing you.  Just wanted to make a fool out of you ".  I was worn out - and sweating - from the whole ordeal, but was glad it was over.  And finally..... we were called back to the exam room.  

Finally.

  

She was so intrigued with everything the doctor was doing.  She watched as the doctor listened to their lungs, and with each 'deep breath' Griff let out, she let out a deep breath as well.  Let's hope she's this interested when we take her for her first doctor's appointment on Thursday!

Moving on....

We've noticed she likes to stick little pieces of tissue in her ear.  Not sure why, or how this started, but every now and again we'll look over and she's stuck a piece in her ear.  

Just happened to get it on video this afternoon.....

And finally.....

Today she had her first photo shoot.  One of my very best friends, and road trip partner in crime, had a  shoot scheduled today in the bluebonnets.  She called us up to see if we wanted to get Harper's picture taken in the bluebonnets as well.  Of course we would!!  We wasted no time in getting her dolled up and camera ready.  

A little side note - one of the updates we got from the orphanage about Harper, said she was shy and did not like to have her picture taken.  Well, I'm not sure what kid they gave us, because she was totally hamming it up for Mary and was not shy with her at all.